December 7 – It has been a slow burn but ticket sales have suddenly ignited for the Russia 2018 World Cup following the Final Draw last Friday. 1,318,109 tickets were requested in the first 24 hours from when the sales window opened December 6.
FIFA says that most applications in this sales window have so come from Russia, with international demand making up 34%. “Fans from Argentina, Peru, Mexico, USA, Colombia, Brazil, Morocco, Egypt, China and Poland all currently rank in top ten,” said a FIFA press release.
The current sales window closes January 31. Fans can apply for individual match tickets for all matches (except for the opening match and the final), venue-specific tickets and supporter tickets. Where there is more for demand tickets than availabale seats, tickets will be allocated via a random-selection draw procedure.
In the first phase of sales, FIFA allocated 742,760 tickets with Russians accounting for 53% of the ticket demand to date.
The significance of the huge increase in demand can be seen in comparison to the 2 million tickets requested in the first window that closed in October.
The second phase of ticket sales has opened up the official supporters category for the 32 qualified national teams. These tickets are for all three team’s group games as well as options to keep following the team if they qualify from their group and progress through the knock-out rounds. These tickets are bought on a conditional basis – FIFA will refund the match ticket (less a handling charge) if the team is knocked out.
All tickets holders need to apply for a FAN ID which acts as the official identity document issued to fans. The FAN ID is required to enter stadiums as well as providing visa-free entry to the Russian Federation, and certain free inter-host city travel, as well as free use of public transport on match days.
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