England fans set for ticket boost

12 December-15 January: Third sales period 31 January 2006: Ticket allocation ballot February onwards: Conditional ticket allocation 15 February-15 April: Fourth sales period 1 May-9 July: Fifth sales period 9 June-9 July: World Cup under way Click here for ticket prices

England fans could receive more tickets if their World Cup Group B opponents fail to sell their full allocation.

The Football Association will receive 8% of the tickets available for the matches against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden.

Only Sweden are expected to sell their allocation and the FA will have first refusal on returns for the other games.

A further 250,000 tickets went on sale on Monday and organisers are expecting demand to be fierce.

"We're assuming demand will once again massively exceed the number of tickets available," said Organising Committee vice-president Horst Schmidt.

"We will conduct a ballot on 31 January 2006. There's no fairer method of allocating tickets than via a lottery,"

Applications must be in by 15 January.

"It is as fair system as any, with the whole world having a chance to get tickets, and there are other phases where more tickets will be available too," said Kevin Miles, the Football Supporters' Federation international co-ordinator.

"When Fifa said they would look positively and constructively at the ticket situation, the only way was to give first refusal to the FA.

"The size of the stadiums and the opposition gives us grounds for optimism.

ENGLAND'S GROUP MATCHES 10 June | v Paraguay | Frankfurt 15 June | v T & Tobago | N'berg 20 June | v Sweden| Cologne

"The entitlement for Trinidad and Tobago and Paraguay could be 15,000, which means they may have to return some. It's unlikely they will sell them."

Any extras the FA receive will be sold to their official supporters' group, while non-members will have to enter the ballot.

In total, some 2.9m tickets divided into four different categories are being sold for the tournament, which runs from 9 June until 9 July.

But demand for the hottest ticket in sport has been intense with most fans forced to rely on the electronic ballot system to make it to one of the 64 matches on offer.

The 2006 Fifa World Cup Ticketing Center (www.fifaworldcup.com) - based in Frankfurt, Germany - is operating as the principal seller of tickets to the general public worldwide.

Tickets are being allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis during five sales periods, with applications being processed in the order they are received.

The third sales phase is between 12 December 2005 and 15 January 2006. The fourth period is 15 February until 15 Aprril, while the final session will commence on 1 May and continue until the end of the tournament, though tickets are expected to be very scarce.

Ticket prices for group matches range from 35 Euros (category 4 seats) to 100 Euros (cat 1), while prices stretch from 55 Euros (cat 4) and 180 Euros (cat 1) for the quarter-finals, and 90-400 Euros for the semis.

The cheapest ticket for the final costs 120 Euros and the most expensive 600 Euros, while fans must pay between 65-300 Euros for the opening match of the tournament in Munich.

Fans were also given the chance to buy conditional (returned) tickets in November with the allocation phase for the first returned tickets beginning next February. More than 61,000 applications for some 140,000 tickets were received.

---

World Cup ticket prices in Euros:
	Cat 1*	Cat 2*	Cat 3*	Cat 4*
Opening match	300 (£202)	180 (£121)	115 (£78)	65 (£44)
Group games	100 (£67)	60 (£40)	45 (£40)	35 (£24)
Final 16	120 (£81)	75 (£51)	60 (£40)	45 (£30)
Quarter-finals	180 (£121)	110 (£74)	85 (£57)	55 (£37)
Semi-finals	400 (£270)	240 (£162)	150 (£101)	90 (£61)
Third play-off place	120 (£81)	75 (£51)	60 (£40)	45 (£30)
Final	600 (£405)	360 (£243)	220 (£148)	120 (£81)

*Seats in Category 1 are generally located alongside the touchline
*Seats in Category 2 are generally located in the higher tiers of the corners
*Seats in Category 3 are generally located in the higher tiers behind the goals
*Seats in Category 4 are generally located behind the goals or in the corners closer to the pitch

Back to top