Fears of poor attendances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa have been allayed after Fifa announced two thirds of match tickets have already been sold.
Two million tickets have now gone, with several matches already oversubscribed.
The sales, announced by Fifa after the third of five phases of ticketing, reflect a surge of interest from South African residents, easing concerns about apathy in the host nation.
Of the 1.2 million applications received in the third ticketing phase, 79% were from South Africans.
“All games of the South African team will be sold out,” said Danny Jordaan, the head of the Local Organising Committee.
Of the other 191 nations to apply for tickets, the United States is in the lead with 50,217 applications, followed by England with 41,529.
By contrast there have been relatively low numbers of applications from other leading football nations, including Germany with just 14,647.
The tickets have been assigned according to a lottery system in the first three phases.
From February 9 the fourth phase will be “first come, first served”.
In the final phase, the last available tickets will be available over the counter in each of the host cities in South Africa.
The increase in demand for tickets for Africa’s first World Cup will be a relief for Fifa, which has faced criticism for choosing to host the tournament in a nation with one of the highest crime rates in the world.
Concerns about security were heightened by the attack on the Togo team at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
But Fifa has denied it made the wrong choice.
“It’s crazy and completely wrong,” Jerome Valke, the body’s General Secretary said.
“Give South Africa a chance.”
