“It’s traditionally by far the most important sales phase, as the world’s football fans will by then know who will be playing whom in the group matches,” said Horst R. Schmidt, chairman of the Ticketing Sub-Committee, ahead of the start of the next sales phase, in a recent press release.

The tournament will pit the world’s football superpowers against each other and will, of course, include most of the game’s leading international stars.

Applications for tickets to Africa’s first FIFA World Cup can be made via www.fifa.com/2010. South African residents also have the chance to apply for tickets via application forms available in all FNB branches across the country. “The good news for all football fans wanting to experience this special event is that about one million tickets for all 64 matches and categories will become available in the third sales phase – including a limited number for the opening match and the final.” Fans will have to apply within 49 days (until 22 January) for individual match tickets or Team-Specific Series. If there are over-subscribed matches or categories, or over-subscribed ticket products or categories, there will be an electronic random selection draw on 1 February to identify the successful applicants.

“We’re confident that our preparations for the tournament are going extremely well. Now, it’s time to focus on the teams and the stars coming to South Africa 2010, for the global football world to see who their teams will be up against and for our Host Cities and residents to gear up to welcome the teams that will be heading their way. We encourage fans in South Africa and around the world to grab this chance to get tickets for what will be an unforgettable event,” said Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa.

So far, a total of 674,403 tickets have been sold, corresponding to 90% of the tickets made available to date. Of those tickets, 53.6% (361,582) have been purchased by South African residents. The foreign country that has purchased the most tickets is the United States (84,103 tickets), followed by the UK (48,388), Germany (25,112), Australia (17,876), Canada (11,662), Switzerland (11,045), Japan (10,558) and Brazil (8,006). There are two types of ticket products available: individual match tickets for a specific match as well as Team-Specific Ticket Series (TST) to follow the national team of the customer’s choice. Applicants can apply for a maximum of four tickets per match and for up to a maximum of seven matches. The maximum number of TSTs that each applicant can apply for is four.

The prices for group matches range from USD 20 to USD 160 (opening match: USD 70 – USD 450; final: USD 150 – USD 900) or ZAR 140 to ZAR 1,120 (opening match ZAR 490 – ZAR 3,150; final: ZAR 1,050 – ZAR 6,300. Category 4 tickets, the most affordable, have been exclusively set aside for South African residents.

All 32 participating member associations will be allocated 12 per cent of all purchasable tickets in the stadiums where their three group games will be played. These tickets will be available through individual websites operated by the 32 participating member associations.