World Cup 2010 tickets

Ticket sales for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa officially began the first of the five stages on 20 February 2009. Between the five specifically demarcated stages no applications for tickets will be accepted. FIFA is handling all ticket sales except those that are being handled through reputable travel agencies which are offering packages to ease the complications of arranging travel, hotel and ticket purchases for international fans.

The initial phase of 20 February 2009 through 31 March was handled as a “luck of the draw” and all applications were treated the same, whether they were received on the first or last day of the sales stage. The current period, 4 May through 16 November, is being handled on a first come first served basis and after less than a month over 100,000 tickets had already been sold in this phase.

The third phase will begin 5 December and go through 22 January 2010 and will be handled the same as the first phase, with a “luck of the draw” and no preference given to date of receipt. The FIFA site has both an online application and a downloadable pdf file to use for the ticket application process. Please note that in the periods between the specified sales stages no applications will be accepted.

The fourth phase will last from 9 February 2010 to 7 April 2010 and will be handled like the second phase, first come, first served. The final sales stage, the Last Minute phase, will last from 15 April to 11 July 2010 and will also be first come, first served. The dates are open to possible change.

You are able to buy match specific tickets for the individual 64 matches at a maximum of four tickets for seven matches. You can also buy team specific tickets for up to four teams, which vary in the number of matches from three to seven games. If your team is eliminated your tickets will be valid for the game in which the winning team is playing.

Caveats on ticket purchase: FIFA’s legal department is monitoring online ticket sales due to fraudulent activity. Be extremely wary about buying tickets online through any source. Also if your tickets have been confirmed, but FIFA has not received payment they reserve the right to resell the tickets so be sure to verify with your credit card company that the transaction is complete. Remember, there are only one million tickets available for international fans of the three million that are being sold, another one million are being reserved for South Africans and the final one million for sponsors, staff and FIFA. You can download a pdf file of the travel packages that are directly associated with FIFA to ensure that you do not fall prey to the ever growing number of fraudulent ticket sellers.