Brazil 2014: more than 4.5 million tickets requested for the 64 matches of the competition

Over 4.5 million ticket requests were recorded on the 03/10/2013, as the first phase of ticket sales for the World Cup in Brazil (from the 12/06 to the 13/07/2014) will end on the 10/10/2013 at noon, West European time. All the requests for this phase, which was opened on the 20/08/2013, are collected before being subjected to a draw if demand exceeds supply.

"Some 77 per cent of requests were received from Brazil, amounting to more than 3.4 million tickets. The host nation is followed by Argentina (223,686 requests) and the USA (175,122)," said FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association).

"Not surprisingly, the most popular matches are the opening match, the final and the Brazil matches. Also very popular are the venue-specific and team-specific tickets," FIFA added.

• "I imagine we will face demand similar to that seen in Germany in 2006, when there were, on average, seven applicants for each ticket," stated Thierry Weil, FIFA's director of marketing, in charge of ticket sales, before the opening of the first phase of ticket sales.