The organizers of the Qatar soccer World Cup, which will run from November 21 to December 18, registered 23.5 million ticket applications during the second sales phase, FIFA announced today.

The eight countries in greatest demand are England, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, France, Mexico, and Qatar," says FIFA in a statement.

The second sales phase, which closed on Thursday, was launched on April 5, and a drawing will now decide the distribution of the tickets.

Argentine fans are among the most interested, with the 'alviceleste's' three group stage matches against Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia among the four most requested.

"Ticket subscribers will be notified by email of the outcome of their request as of May 31," FIFA quoted Lusa as saying.

In the first sales phase, organized between January 19 and February 8, 804,186 tickets had already been allocated and 17 million requested.

There are just over 3 million available in total (2 million for sale and 1 million reserved for FIFA and its partners).

Between 1.2 and 1.4 million people are expected in Qatar during the event.

A final phase of 'last minute' sales is planned, the dates of which are not known, according to the principle of awarding the ticket to the first to request it (without a lottery).

For spectators outside Qatar, individual ticket prices for the first round of the competition range from 250 to 800 Qatari rials (between 62 and 200 euros) per game. For the final, tickets range between 550 and 1,460 euros.

Ticket prices reserved for Qatari residents range from 40 to 750 rials (from 10 to 190 euros) per unit. On average, tickets are 30% more expensive than at the previous World Cup in Russia in 2018.