FIFA launches final ticket sales stage for matches of 2018 World Cup in Russia

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced the opening of the 3rd and final stage of ticket sales for matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off in Russia in less than two months. Ticket sales’ Phase 3, dubbed as the "Last Minute Sales," runs starting April 18 up until the final match day of the competition in July and the remaining tickets are available for purchase on a first-come first-serve basis. "With less than two months left until the start of the biggest single-sport event on the planet, fans across the globe will have another opportunity to apply for tickets for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia," the FIFA said in a statement. The last-minute sales phase was launched on Wednesday, April 18, at 12:00 Moscow time (9:00 a.m. GMT) for fans to be able "to purchase tickets online, subject to availability, in real time and on a first-come, first-served basis," the statement said. According to FIFA, "1,698,049 tickets have already been allocated to football supporters from all over the world," via the official FIFA website since the launch of Phase One of ticket sales in September 2017. "Most of these tickets have been allocated to Russian fans (796,875), followed by fans from the USA (80,161), Brazil (65,863), Colombia (60,199), Germany (55,136), Mexico (51,736), Argentina (44,882), Peru (38,544), China (36,841), Australia (34,628) and England (30,711) - the top-ten countries from abroad," the FIFA announced summing up the results after previous two phases of ticket sales. The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 57 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow. Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara. The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital. Read more