(Football news) If you’re an ardent sports fan like us, few events in the world are bigger than the football World Cup. For many, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch some of the most iconic footballers represent their countries at the biggest stage of them all, but it’s also an expensive trip halfway across the world and exorbitant prices mean that it’s usually out of reach for many ordinary individuals. However, what if I told you that watching a World Cup match is cheaper than buying a ticket at the Wankhede Stadium for an Indian Premier League fixture? Interested? Read on.

A ticket for a Group Stage game at the 2022 World Cup is 250 Qatari Rial, approximately Rs 5,211. This means that you can watch a fixture such as Spain vs Germany for a relatively affordable price while the cheapest ticket at the World Cup Final is about Rs 45,828, just 10,000 rupees more than the most expensive ticket in the Indian Premier League. Moreover, the fact that the World Cup is being held in Qatar, merely a few hours away from cities such as Mumbai means that flight tickets are also much more affordable. As a result, interest from Indians has skyrocketed for the 2022 World Cup and ticket applications from the country were seventh highest.

There have been complaints about fans being stuck in online queues for ticket applications that began on April 5th and is set to continue until April 28th. According to FIFA, the random selection draw will be out by May 31st and a lottery system will be used to decide who gets the tickets. For the Qatari locals, the tickets are even cheaper 40 QAR (Rs 834) for the Group Stage matches, the lowest a host nation has charged since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. However, the tickets for the World Cup final in Qatar $1607 (QAR 5850/INR 1,22,032) are comparatively more expensive than the 2018 World Cup in Russia $1100 (Rs 83,509). 

Here’s the step-by-step process to apply for the tickets

1) Open an account on fifa.com using a valid email address, a recognized debit/credit card and a valid passport.

2) Apply for any tickets from the Group Stage opener to the World Cup final

3) Choose from categories of individual matches, team-specific, stadium-specific and accessibility tickets.

4) A FanID will be created which will be used to enter the stadium and travel in and around Qatar. Six tickets per match are allowed with every FanID for a total of 60 tickets throughout the World Cup.

5) Payment for tickets will only be made after May 31st if the application is successful.

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