FIFA has requests for more than 4.5 million World Cup tickets

São Paulo’s Itaquerão Stadium will host the first game of the 2014 World Cup on June 12. FIFA said it has received applications for more than 4.5 million tickets for the World Cup in Brazil, as the first stage of ticket sales concludes on Oct. 10. FIFA will hold a lottery when the number of requests for a game is greater than the number of tickets. (Nelson Almeida/AFP)

Chris Swanson / ISH

October 7th, 2013 – ZURICH (ISH) – FIFA said it has received applications for more than 4.5 million tickets for the World Cup in Brazil, as the first stage of ticket sales concludes on Oct. 10.

“This impressive total so far underlines the extraordinary level of interest in this 20th FIFA World Cup being played next year in the country of the five-time world champions,” Thierry Weil, FIFA’s marketing director in charge of ticketing, said in a prepared statement. “However, fans who apply by [Oct. 10] have as good a chance of obtaining tickets as those who have already applied.”

FIFA will hold a lottery when the number of requests is greater than the number of tickets. Applications can be completed by clicking here.

FIFA expects 3.3 million tickets to be available for the World Cup, a 32-team, 64-match event that will run from June 12 to July 13.

However, FIFA said about a million tickets will be sold through the first phase of sales.

Brazil has submitted applications for 3.4 million tickets, followed by Argentina (223,686) and the United States (175,122), as FIFA said it has received applications from more than 200 countries.

The matches that have received the most ticket applications are the opening game, the championship game and all involving the Brazilian national team. Meantime, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke will visit the World Cup cities of Porto Alegre and Cuiabá on Oct. 7 and 8, respectively, to gauge the progress they’ve made.

Valcke is expected to inspect the stadium that will host games in each city, meet with officials and participate in the symbolic ticket handover to representatives of the construction workers. FIFA will give workers involved in the construction or renovating of the 12 World Cup stadiums tickets to a World Cup game where they worked.

Mexico’s Héctor Moreno to miss 2 World Cup qualifiers

Mexico will have to overcome a major setback if it’s to qualify for the World Cup after center defender Héctor Moreno’s torn right hamstring will sideline him against Panama and Costa Rica this month.

Moreno, who anchors the team’s defense, suffered the injury during Espanyol’s 2-0 loss to Getafe in a Spanish La Liga game this past weekend.

Moreno’s absence will cause Manager Víctor Manuel Vucetich to shuffle his lineup in his first game since taking over for Luis Fernando Tena last month.

Mexico hosts Panama in Mexico City on Oct. 11 before playing Costa Rica in San José four days later.

Moreno, 25, has played in seven of eight games in the final stage of qualifying.

In CONCACAF, the United States (5-1-2, 16 points) is in first place, followed by Costa Rica (4-3-1, 15). Honduras (3-2-3, 11) is in third place, followed by Panama (1-5-2, eight), Mexico (1-5-2, eight) and Jamaica (0-4-4, four).

The top three teams automatically qualify for the World Cup, with the fourth-place finisher in CONCACAF facing New Zealand – the winner of the Oceania qualifier – in a two-game playoff for a spot in the 32-team in Brazil.