DOHA: Nearly three million Qatar 2022 World Cup tickets have already been sold, with the International Football Association (FIFA) saying the theme helped boost their revenue four years ago to US$7.5 billion.

A FIFA spokesperson told AFP that 2.95 million tickets had been sold up to opening day last night.

The opening of the World Cup clearly led to a spike in fans to watch 64 matches over 29 days despite the negative publicity towards Qatar as the host.

Fans were seen lining up outside FIFA’s ticket center in Doha and some frowned at being forced to wait a long time to enter the online ticket selling platform.

The spokesperson said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Mexico, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, France, India and Brazil were among the countries with the highest purchase of tickets.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told during a previous hearing that the world body’s four-year revenue is expected to total RM34.3 billion by the end of the year.

The revenue achieved was US$1 billion higher than forecast four years ago.