FIFA said 3.5m requests have been made for tickets for its flagship World Cup tournament in Russia next year, as it dropped the curtains on the first sales period.

The football governing body said ticket requests had been high since September 14, with most of the applications coming from Russia.

International demand accounts for more than 30 per cent, it said in a report on its websitewww.fifa.com.

German, Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican, United States, Colombian, Egyptian, Chinese and Polish fans all rank in the top 10, while around 150,000 tickets have been requested for the opening match and more than 300,000 for the final.

During the Random Selection Draw sales period, which ended on Thursday at 12.00 Moscow time, fans had the chance to apply for tickets for every match or for specific ticket products on FIFA.com/tickets.

In cases where the number of tickets applied for exceeds the available inventory, tickets will be allocated by a random selection draw process. All successful, partially successful and unsuccessful applicants will be duly notified of the outcome of their applications by 16 November 2017.

Ticket sales resume on November 16.

Sales Phase 1 will restart on November 16 with a first-come, first-served sales period when the fans will be able to purchase 2018 FIFA World Cup tickets in real time on FIFA.com/tickets with immediate confirmation of successful application.

This first-come, first-served sales period will end on November 28 and tickets purchased during this sales phase will be delivered free of charge to fans in the weeks leading up to the tournament, with deliveries planned to start in April/May 2018 (subject to change). Tickets may be purchased using Visa, Official Payment Services Partner of FIFA, payment cards, and other accepted payment cards or bank transfer.

Only nine spots are yet to be filled at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Hosts Russia have been joined by Brazil, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Germany, England, Spain, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Poland, Egypt, Iceland, Serbia, France, Portugal, Panama, Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina. (NAN)