US fans grab tickets for Spain-Portugal match at World Cup

Fans from the United States were the largest group of ticket purchasers for the Spain-Portugal match during the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the organisers have said.

"There are no more tickets for Spain-Portugal," Oleg Trushkin, director of Fisht stadium in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, said on Thursday while showing President Vladimir Putin and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino around the facility, reports Efe news agency.

"Who bought the most tickets? Guess! The Americans," Trushkin added.

Fisht, built to accommodate some 45,000 spectators, hosted the Confederations Cup last summer. It will be the venue for several other group stage matches, including Belgium-Panama, Germany-Sweden and Australia-Peru, as well as contests in the knockout stages.

According to Alexei Sorokin, head of the organising committee, 2.3 million tickets have already been sold of which some 49 percent correspond to Russian fans, who had first dibs on the cheapest tickets.

FIFA has already announced that tickets have sold out in nine of the 11 cities set to host World Cup matches, leaving availability for two games in Volgograd and Saransk only.

Besides the US and China, Latin American countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Peru account for a large number of international ticket sales.

--IANS

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