More than one million football fans tried to purchase tickets for Wednesday's Under-17 World Cup semi-final between England and Brazil in Kolkata, leading to the meltdown of FIFA's online ticketing system.

A decision was made to switch the highly-anticipated semi-final to Kolkata after the two teams refused to play on the heavily waterlogged pitch at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.

With over 1,000km between the two cities, the vast majority of fans who had purchased tickets in Guwahati were left cursing the torrential rain that ruined their chance to see the spectacle.

Rhian Brewster scored a hat-trick as England beat USA 4-1 to reach the U17 World Cup semis

England's players celebrate their passage to the World Cup semi-finals, where Brazil await

Brazil defeated Germany 2-1 in Kolkata to book their semi-final place on Sunday night

Watching brief UNDER-17 WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL ENGLAND vs BRAZIL Wednesday 12.30pm (UK time) Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata Live on Eurosport 1 Advertisement

But it was a bonus for fans who lived in Kolkata, with the Salt Lake Stadium set to stage its ninth game of the tournament on Wednesday lunchtime UK time.

However, many who logged on to FIFA's ticket portal to buy one of the 66,000 tickets placed on sale at short notice were to be left disappointed.

FIFA have confirmed that over one million fans logged on to attempt to buy tickets when they went on sale on Monday, with many confronted with messages saying they were behind as many as 100,000 in the queue.

To put this into some perspective, around 3.5million football fans globally requested tickets in the first sales phase for the entire World Cup in Russia next year.

Tickets went on sale at 8.30pm Indian time but by 8.40pm, over 95,000 - more than the overall capacity of the stadium - were waiting in line.

It proved a game of patience for fans, with some sticking it out for hours and eventually obtaining their tickets as others logged out of the queue.

Local fans get behind the Brazil team during their quarter-final win over Germany

The England vs Brazil semi-final was moved from Guwahati to Kolkata after torrential rain left the pitch at the Indira Gandhi Stadium (pictured) dangerous to play on

A number of fans also experienced the frustration of technical difficulties as the server struggled to cope with the weight of people logging on.

A small minority were deducted money from credit cards without receiving confirmation of their ticket via e-mail.

FIFA apologised for the problems in a statement relased on Tuesday: 'Following the decision to reschedule the semi-final... the logistical challenges were numerous.

'From the moments tickets were put on sale at 20.30 IST until today, more than one million people tried to access the ticketing portal of the service provider.

'Tickets for the match have now SOLD OUT, and both FIFA and the LOC are incredibly grateful to every single fan who tried, successfully or not, to purchase a ticket.

'Collectively, we are very sorry that a number of fans... experienced technical difficulties, a huge queue, and in some cases, a deduction of monies without confirmation or ticket.

Persistent rain - as seen during the Mali vs Ghana quarter-final - ruined the pitch in Guwahati

An England fan gets behind the team during the quarter-final win over the United States

'Throughout the build-up to this tournament, and during, we have been overwhelmed by the positive response to this first FIFA tournament hosted in India.

'It is a big regret that we could not facilitate the request of each of the million-plus fans who wanted to attend tomorrow's match.'

Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium, which will also host the final and third-place play-off this weekend, has seen some of the highest attendances of a well-supported tournament.

A crowd of 66,613 attended the Brazil vs Germany quarter-final last Sunday, within touching distance of the capacity of 66,687 for this tournament.

The switch of venue caused inconvenience for both the England and Brazil teams, who had already arrived in Guwahati and were due to train in the stadium on Monday night.

But days of rain left the pitch unplayable and FIFA made the call 'following consultation with both teams in order to safeguard the players' health and to ensure the best playing conditions.'

The winners of the England-Brazil match will face either Mali or Spain in Saturday's final.