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Football: High demand as final Cup ticket window opens

Governing body FIFA on Tuesday opened the final sales phase for World Cup tickets and reported 126,837 of 199,519 available for 54 of the 64 matches were snapped up within four hours.

Brazilian nationals bagged two thirds of the latest sales, FIFA said, accounting for 80,496 tickets with 46,341 tickets going to fans outside the host nation on a first-come, first-served basis via the FIFA website.

FIFA added its ticketing pick-up centers in the 12 host cities would open from Friday, save for Brasilia and Porto Alegre, where they will only be available from next month.

The organisation explained fans who have bought tickets can make an appointment for collection via FIFA.com.

From June 1, through to the final on July 13, FIFA said tickets can also be purchased over the counter at designated FIFA Venue Ticketing Centres in the host cities.

The ten matches sold out prior to the final sales phase were the July 13 final, the June 12 curtain-raiser between Brazil and Croatia, Mexico v Cameroon, England v Italy, Argentina v Bosnia, Brazil v Mexico, reigning champions Spain v Chile, Cameroon v Brazil, Croatia v Mexico and Australia v Spain.

"With less than two months to go, this is the last chance for fans to secure their tickets for football's flagship event," Thierry Weil, FIFA Marketing Director in charge of ticketing, said just ahead of the latest sales phase.

Prior to Tuesday, FIFA said a total of 2,577,662 tickets had already been allocated.

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