World Cup ticket requests hit 5.4 million

RIO DE JANEIRO -- World football's governing body FIFA received requests for 5.4 million World Cup tickets as the deadline approached for the first phase of applications on Wednesday night.

The top 10 nationalities for requests were Brazil, United States, Argentina, Germany, Chile, England, Japan, Colombia, Australia and Mexico, FIFA's media department said on Twitter.

Under the World Cup ticketing system, fans have had since August 20 to submit requests to 64 matches across 12 Brazilian cities.

If demand exceeds the number of tickets available for any given match, a random draw will take place to determine the recipients.

The deadline for the first ticketing phase ends at 12pm Thursday (CET). The second ticket sale phase starts on December 8, two days after the World Cup draw.