RIO DE JANEIRO: An illegal ticketing scandal rocked the World Cup on Thursday as Germany and France geared up for a titanic quarter-final showdown.

Police probing an international scalping syndicate said thousands of illegally sold tickets worth millions of dollars were believed to have originated from a FIFA individual.

The ticket scam is thought to have netted $95 million.

The unnamed foreign national was staying at the luxury Copacabana Palace hotel, an official FIFA hotel during the World Cup, police commissioner Fabio Barucke said.

The individual is thought to have funnelled tickets to the black market with an intermediary in Match Hospitality, the official World Cup ticket agency, Barucke said. Match Hospitality also organises ticketing for other major sporting events.