We all know the U.S. national team will not play at the 2018 World Cup in Russia next summer, but that hasn’t stopped fans in the United States snapping up tickets for the tournament.
Seriously.
In an updated list of the nations to make the highest number of ticket applications for the tournament, the U.S. is among the top 10 with hosts Russia leading the way (obviously) with 66 percent of World Cup tickets requested so far coming from Russian citizens.
FIFA’s random selection draw for World Cup tickets opened up on Dec. 5 and will run until Jan. 31, 2018, with fans able to bid for which tickets they want and they’ll then find out at a later date if they get the tickets they wanted.
Over 1.3 million tickets were requested from the first 24 hours of ticket sales.
Below is a look at the top 10 nations when it comes to making ticket applications with FIFA not releasing specific rankings among the top 10.
- Russia (hosts, 66%)
- Argentina
- Peru
- Mexico
- USA
- Colombia
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Egypt
- China
- Poland
Some intriguing geographical information here with 8 of the top 10 nations (excluding hosts Russia) actually playing in the World Cup, but the USA and China are the only nations among the top 10 who will not see their teams play at the World Cup.
Mexico appear high on the list, while fans of Morocco, Egypt and Peru are making the most of their teams being at the World Cup for the first time in decades.
Why is the U.S. so high? Well, it could be down to fans of Mexico and many of the South American nations who now live in the USA and are planning on going to Russia next summer.
Aside from that, a lack of ticket applications from the likes of England, Germany and France is surprising, but seeing Brazil, Argentina and Colombia among this list is not. All three nations take a huge band of traveling fans wherever they go and Russia will be full of South American flair next summer.
Judging by some of the empty seats in Russian stadiums for the Confederations Cup last summer, it would seem like most of the fans applying for tickets will get lucky.