Japanese organisers of the 2002 World Cup have received 2.4 million applications for tickets.
About 1.35 million tickets are available for the matches to be played in Japan. Half of these will be sold in Japan although official sponsors will take a large slice.
A total of 2,363,291 applications were received in the first round that took place from February 15th to March 14th. Only 100,161 were made via the Internet, the Japanese organising committee (JAWOC) said in a statement today.
Lucky ticket winners selected in a draw will be announced in June, JAWOC said.
Despite high hopes for ticket applications through the Internet organisers were forced to delay the start of online sales due to a computer problem.
A second round of sales will take place early next year but a mere 63,000 tickets will be on offer.
Yesterday organisers from co-hosts South Korea said 1.03 million people had applied for the 230,000 tickets they had offered domestically.
Just under half applied for tickets using the Internet in South Korea. Korean winners will be selected in a draw and notified next month.
Online applications are open to international football fans until April 30th.
Soccer's world governing body FIFA, Korea and Japan combined expect to sell 3.18 million tickets.
The World Cup finals will be played from May 31st to June 30th 2002.