FIFA Head of Ticketing Falk Eller commented: “Such a great interest obviously caused many matches to be fully overbooked, but we have set up a transparent and fair process of ticket allocation based on a random selection draw procedure, which ensures that each and every application has an equal chance of being successful. Fans who were not so lucky can still be part of the FIFA World Cup in Russia as sales restart on Tuesday.”

“With only 94 days left until the FIFA World Cup opening match, we continue to be very happy with the outcome of ticket sales. The huge demand by both local and international fans highlights the great sense of anticipation and excitement that Russia 2018 is sparking around the world,” said FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura.

Overwhelming demand from fans around the world Many matches and ticket products were highly oversubscribed, which again required a random selection draw for ticket allocation. Following this procedure, carried out in the presence of a public notary, 568,448 tickets were allocated (subject to payment) to the lucky fans worldwide. Most of them are going to Russian fans (197,832) followed by fans from Colombia (33,048), Brazil (24,656), Peru (21,946), Germany (21,639), USA (20,347), Mexico (18,155), Australia (15,906), Argentina (15.214), England (14,890) and Poland (13,686) – the top ten countries from abroad. Overall, the number of tickets allocated to international customers during the second random selection sales window accounts for 65 percent.

A few days after celebrating 100 days to go until the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, the outcome of the most recent tickets sales period has now been confirmed, with 568,448 tickets allocated following the second random selection draw sales window from 5 December to 31 January. This is on top of the 735,168 tickets (following conclusion of the payment process) allocated during the first sales phase, which makes a total of 1,303,616 tickets allocated since the start of ticket sales in September 2017.

Sales resume on 13 March

The next opportunity to purchase tickets has now commenced at FIFA.com/tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. This means that fans will be able to purchase tickets in real time (subject to availability) after successful payment. Tickets for all matches except match 7 (Argentina v. Iceland) and the final will be available. This includes category 4 tickets for selected matches, which are exclusively reserved for Russian residents. Fans are advised to place their order as soon as the sales period opens, as high demand is expected and tickets are likely to sell out very quickly. A traffic light system available on FIFA.com/tickets will give fans an indication about availability.

Tickets purchased during sales phases 1 and 2 will be delivered free of charge to fans in the weeks leading up to the tournament, with deliveries planned to start in April/May 2018 (subject to change).

FIFA.com/tickets – the only official source

Given the remarkable interest from all over the world, FIFA would like to remind all football fans that FIFA.com/tickets is the only official and legitimate website on which to buy 2018 FIFA World Cup tickets. Tickets obtained from any other source will be automatically cancelled once identified and will not entitle the ticket holder to access the stadium or to any refund or other compensation.

FIFA regards the illicit sale and distribution of tickets as a serious issue and in cooperation with local authorities, including consumer protection agencies in numerous countries, strives to identify and curb unauthorised ticket sales. As a result, a number of unauthorised online ticket sale offers via websites and on social media in various countries have been removed in recent months.

Special access tickets

FIFA has also made an allocation of tickets available for disabled people and people with limited mobility in accordance with the number of special access seats available in the 12 stadiums. For more information, please click here.

Payment methods

Tickets may be purchased online by using Visa payment cards or Visa Checkout. Visa is the official payment services partner of FIFA. To find out more about payment methods, please click here.

FAN ID

At the request of the Russian authorities, all fans attending matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup need to apply for a FAN ID – the official identity document issued to fans. Fans are encouraged to apply for this free document as soon as possible after they have received their ticket confirmation email.

A FAN ID and a valid ticket are required for fans to be able to enter the 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums. Having a FAN ID gives fans additional benefits and services provided by the host country, such as visa-free entry to the Russian Federation, certain free inter-host city travel and free use of public transport on matchdays. For further details, please visit www.fan-id.ru.

FIFA does not assume any liability or responsibility concerning the application, issue and/or use of FAN IDs.