FIFA and organizers of the 2022 World Cup have confirmed that nearly 2.9 million tickets have been sold for the tournament in Qatar, leaving about 7% of seats still available.
People living in the United States, Saudi Arabia and England topped the list of international ticket buyers.
FIFA’s tournament director, Colin Smith, said at a news conference in Doha that more tickets will become available before the tournament starts on November 20.
Tickets can typically become available late because stakeholders such as sponsors and FIFA member federations return them from their quotas.
About 1.2 million international visitors are expected in Qatar for the 29-day tournament with extra accommodation still being added to avoid a shortage of rooms in the tiny emirate.
Qatari officials said 2 million separate room nights have already been sold to fans — in hotels, apartments, cruise ships and some camping sites — with 30,000 room options now added to the capacity.
Those new rooms added a total capacity of about 1 million room nights, said Yasir Al Jamal, director general of the Qatari organising committee.
Extra capacity was added last week with the hiring of a third, 1,075-cabin cruise ship to dock in Doha port as a floating hotel.
Prices started at $470 each night during the opening two weeks when all 32 teams are still involved.
Though 420,000 people worldwide applied to be a tournament volunteer working in Qatar, only 20,000 have been chosen, organisers said.
A total of 11%, about 2,200 people, will come from abroad and 89% are from Qatar.