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World Cup: category splits confirmed

World Cup: category splits confirmed

Posted by Team England at 17:07 on Monday 22 January 2018

FIFA have advised the following FA allocations for England’s World Cup matches:

Tunisia v England – 2816

England v Panama – 2855

England v Belgium – 2119

Round of 16- 3500

Quarter Final – 3000

Semi Final – 4800

Final – 5100

Football Community 

FIFA have confirmed that The FA’s Football Community allocation is 700 tickets per match and these form part of the above allocations. The Football Community is comprised of players’ families and guests, Football Clubs and County FAs. These tickets are primarily category 1 and we anticipate only using on average 300 tickets per match. We have requested to FIFA that the remaining 400 tickets per match be added to the England supporter’s allocation.

In addition, FIFA have provided a breakdown of the category split for each match for the tickets available to supporters:

Tunisia v England – 100 x cat 1, 504 x cat 2, 1512 x cat 3

England v Panama  -  100 x cat 1, 514 x cat 2, 1541 x cat 3

England v Belgium  - 100 x cat 1, 330 x cat 2, 989 x cat 3

Round of 16  -  100 x cat 1, 675 x cat 2, 2025 x cat 3

Quarter Final  - 100 x cat 1, 550 x cat 2, 1650 x cat 3

Semi Final  - 100 x cat 1, 1000 x cat 2, 3000 x cat 3

Match for 3rd Place - 100 x cat 1, 925 x cat 2, 2775 x cat 3

Final - 100 x cat 1, 1075 x cat 2, 3225 x cat 3   

 *Please note the 400 surplus Football Community tickets per match are not included in the above totals as we are awaiting FIFA confirmation that this will be allowed.

Category Advice

Based on current applications submitted to FIFA so far only the Belgium match is oversubscribed. All other matches, including knock-out matches are under-subscribed as of the 19th January 2018. Given this information and based on the queries we have received, we believe that the vast majority of members (who are planning on going to the World Cup) have completed their applications for tickets and so we can now offer the following advice:

- We expect to have sufficient category 3 tickets for all matches except Belgium to meet the total demand from members. If you haven’t applied for this category already you may wish to amend your application to a category 3 ticket if this is your preference.

* Update as of 19/01/2018
- For the Panama match we can now advise that we expect to have sufficient category 3 tickets for all those who apply, meaning if you have selected category 1 or category 2 tickets you may now wish to amend your application and select category 3.

- For the Belgium game our advice would now be for those on 45+ caps to apply for a category 3 ticket; those on 20+ caps for a category 2 (and tick the box to be moved down) and for all those on less than 20 caps to apply for a category 1 ticket (and tick the box to be moved down).

Group bookings

Members applying in groups with varying caps level should note that some members may miss out on a ticket for the Belgium game depending on which category they select. As previously advised, fans that are on a similar caps level should apply together; however top and low cappers are encouraged to apply separately and for a different category in order to have a better chance of being successful for this match. For example for the Belgium game:

Lead member Tom has 52 caps and applies for category 3 tickets. Dick and Harry have 16 caps each and apply with Tom for category 3 tickets. It is likely that Tom will be successful in his application but Dick and Harry will not be allocated tickets (due to their caps level). Therefore, we would strongly advise that Tom apply on his own for category 3 tickets (or with others on a similar caps level) and Dick and Harry apply separately for a category 1 ticket (and check the box to say that they would accept a category 2 ticket). Therefore, all three members have a better chance of being allocated tickets - albeit separately.

Please note

The information and advice provided in this news story is subject to change based on the number of applications submitted to FIFA. We will endeavour to update members accordingly when more information is released.

If you have any questions regarding the ticket allocations, please direct your query to FIFA using the ‘contact us’ form here: https://support.tickets.fifa.com/en-gb/enquiry-form.aspx

If you have any queries regarding your application, please email englandsupportersclub@thefa.com or call 0800 389 1966. Please note that we are unable to check applications on the FIFA system but we will do our best to offer advice and support. 

Have Your Say
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  • joke allocation complete joke

  • Why is it a joke? enough tickets for every member who has applied except for the Belgium match being oversubscribed.

  • The problem is the clubs who are less supported end up with tickets left over which is why UEFA and FIFA always give what we would class as a poor allocation for tournament matches

  • Am I correct in thinking if you apply for category 1 and select that you'll accept lower category, that means you have a chance at category 1, 2 or 3?

    Or does it just mean that you will have a chance in 1 and the category directly below which is 2?

  • My understanding was that if you select a catagory with the option to be moved down, it only moved you to the catagory below the one selected. So the advice to sub 20 cappers for the Belgium game to select cat 1 (and accept to be moved to cat2) would restrict them to the combined  430 available tickets, however if cat 2 was selected with the option to move to cat 3 there would be 1319 tickets available.

    Or is the advice based on the assumption  FA tickets being returned at cat1?

    Not very clear

  • Pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of tickets are Cat 3!

  • Not happy, but not surprised to see that about a third of the allocation is for “VIPs and hangers on”. Well done to the FA for requesting the surplus tickets to be reallocated to fans but shouldn’t those tickets be coming out of the worldwide allocation?

  • Not even the FA Football Community fancy a trip to Russia then lol.

  • Excellent detail given by the FA. Much more than we’ve ever received before for any major tournament. There are plenty of tickets to go round (bar the Belgium game) so christ knows why people are complaining about allocations. And I suspect most people who have bothered doing at least an away game or two in the last few years should get one so the only ones missing out can’t really have much to complain about.

    Also, very straight forward regarding which category to apply for. If you haven’t got many caps then apply for the more expensive tickets to give yourself a better chance.

    It’s not hard. It’s very very easy. Frankly, if you are struggling with this then you are better staying home and watching it on tv.

  • The FA have to be congratulated on providing this information and making it clear what we should be applying for. Thanks.

  • Absolutely - well done and thank you, EF/Spuddy (or whatever we call you now). It doesn't change my application, but it's brilliant to know that I don't have to do anything - as it would be equally brilliant to know that I *did* have to do something to ensure we get what we want.

  • If you selected Cat 1 but dont get them, do you take priority over Cat 2 & Cat 3 before the people who selected them groups ? Or do you only get lower Cats if there spaces after the people who selected them groups have been dealt with ? Can someone clarify if you can only get drop down one Cat or two Cat if available ?

    I really think FIFA and UEFA need to look at the potential fixtures ahead of tournaments so that the BIG fixtures ie Wales match in France and now the Belgium match in Russia doesnt get the smallest grounds again.

  • Does anyone know whether they'll be a ballot for each category or the whole allocation?

  • The allocation is a joke because we all know that the 'locals' with tickets will only be too happy to sell their tickets to travelling fans without them.  The question is whether the local authorities enforce strict access controls that ensure only the buyers of tickets can use them.  That has not been the case at any tournament this century.  Better would be they increase the allocation to England fans to avoid this scenario.  I accept that the FA will have raised all these points and that it will be FIFAs intransigence that means common sense has not prevailed

  • Nice transparency at work here - treating us like adults.  Thanks.