FIFA has received 3 million ticket requests for the World Cup final in Qatar and high demand to attend some of its biggest group-stage games, even as issues linger about the tiny Persian Gulf nation’s ability to accommodate fans.
The data revealed to The Associated Press by FIFA shows there have been 2.5 million ticket requests to see Argentina play Mexico on Nov. 26 at the 80,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, and 1.4 million fans hope to see England face the United States the previous day at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium.
Overall for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 tournament, there have been more than 2 million ticket requests from the U.S., England and Qatar after the second phase of sales. A random draw will be used to allocate tickets for matches where the demand exceeds capacity.
The significant number of ticket requests could reflect the desire to watch more than one match a day with fans looking to fill time between watching their own country by attending other games in a country where all stadiums are within an hour’s travel by public transport from the heart of Doha.
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