World Cup: 1.8 million tickets sold, Indian fans among top 10 buyers

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is less than five months away and the excitement is already building.

And FIFA have already managed to sell 1.8 million matchday tickets in the first two phases of ticket sales. After the initial random selection draw sales period, a short first-come, first-served phase saw a surge of interest from fans worldwide.

And surprisingly, India is among the countries where the demand for tickets has been highest.

Indian fans among the top 10 buyers

India are among the top ten buyers country-wise. The top 10 countries who have bought the most number of tickets are Qatar, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UAE and the USA.

The ticket applications were opened on January 19, 2022. A huge chunk of Indian fans had applied for the tickets in phase 1 and phase 2.

Despite India not participating in the World Cup, the enthusiasm among the fans has been exceptional. Football is the second most popular sport in India after cricket and the 2018 World Cup in Russia had also seen India rank inside the top 10 among countries from where most fans purchased tickets.

Individual match tickets and tickets for the opening and final matches in particular – were the most popular tickets on offer, but fans also bought team-specific tickets and four-stadium tickets in numbers.

Third-phase sales period opens on July 5

Fans who did not succeed in the first two sales phases will have another chance to apply for the remaining tickets during the next first-come-first-serve sales period, which will launch on Tuesday (July 5) at 2:30 PM IST. The new window will close on 16 August at 2:30 PM IST.