550,000 tickets are now on sale over the counter at 600 branches of First National Bank and at the eleven ticketing centres in the nine host cities in South Africa. If you haven't yet got your ticket, you better hurry and get in line as they are expected to sell fast.

This is a new way of selling tickets for FIFA but it was a desperately needed phase as many in South Africa do not have access to the internet or a credit card and most are used to turning up at the stadium on match day to purchase a ticket.

Sales commenced at 9am this morning with the added bonus that 300 extra tickets for the final were made available - which is sure to make 300 people very happy. If you want more information on how and where to get your tickets click here.

It is also getting reported, as if further confirmation was needed, that South African football fans are mad for the World Cup. FIFA have published research that claims that South Africa is the world’s most football-mad nation!

According to the report, 77% of South Africans are “interested” or “very interested” in football, compared to 61% in Britain, 49% in Brazil and just 22% in the United States. When asked about their enthusiasm for the World Cup, that figure among South Africans rose to 84%, a figure comparable only to three-times winners, Germany.

Horst R. Schmidt
We know that people have been waiting for the over-the-counter sales to start and now it’s finally happening.