3 million ticket requests for World Cup final in Qatar

FIFA has received over 3 million requests for tickets to the World Cup final in Qatar. There is high demand to see some of its most iconic group-stage games. But, there are still concerns about how the tiny Persian Gulf nation can accommodate fans.

The Associated Press has learned that 2.5 million people have requested tickets to see Argentina face Mexico at the Lusail Stadium. 1.4 million supporters hope to see England take on the United States at Al Bayt Stadium with a capacity of 60,000.

After the second phase, more than 2,000,000 ticket requests came from Qatar, England, and the United States for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18, tournament. To allocate tickets to matches with a high demand, tickets will be drawn by random.

This could be due to the fact that many people are looking for tickets to more than one match per day. Fans may also want to attend other matches in the country, which is within an hour of Doha’s center.

The tournament is lacking in tourist attractions due to the lack of stadiums around the capital. This is in contrast to the recent World Cups held in Brazil and Russia. FIFA received over 23 million ticket requests.

It is difficult to accommodate visitors due to the small size of Qatar, with many hotels located around Doha. The open market is not available for rooms in hotels aggregation sites for Nov. 25 and 26, which are the night of the Argentina–Mexico and England–U.S. games. A World Cup accommodation website showed no availability for hotels, apartments, villas, or cruise ships arriving in Qatar.

Also, it is not possible to stay in Doha during the Dec. 18 final at Lusail. The stadium has yet to host a test match.

There were 3 million requests for tickets for the final, despite the fact that prices rose up to 46%. International fans can attend the 2018 final in Moscow. The most expensive tickets are 5,850 Qatari Rial (US$1,607).