Ticketing sales of the 2010 Fifa World Cup hit the 500,000 mark within the first ten days of the third sales phase.
A total of 386,300 of the tickets were bought by South African soccer fans, while the remaining 114,237 went to fans from the rest of the world.
The US is leading the list of sales with 22,942 tickets, followed by the UK 20,232, Mexico 7,981, Germany 7,697, Australia 6,277 and Brazil 4,760.
In total, ticket applications from 166 countries have been received and the figures do not include the participating member associations’ allocated ticket sales.
Horst Schmidt, chairman of the FIFA ticketing sub-committee said: “In comparison with the previous editions the latest ticket application figures are impressive.”
Danny Jordaan, chief executive officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup said the number of domestic applications had increased significantly.
“By buying a ticket, South Africans are not only buying a seat to watch a match but also their spot in South African history.”