Moscow, Jun 8 (IANS): Latin American fans are leading global demand for tickets to the World Cup in Russia, football governing body FIFA has said.

Some 2,403,116 tickets have been sold since sales began September 2017, FIFA said in a statement.

Russian fans lead the way, having bought 871,797 tickets, followed by the US (88,825), Brazil (72,512), Colombia (65,234), Germany (62,541), Mexico (60,302), Argentina (54,031), Peru (43,583), China (40,251), Australia (36,359) and England (32,362).

The World Cup will begin on June 14 when Russia meet Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium here. The final will be played at the same venue on July 15, Xinhua news agency reported.

FIFA said a new batch of tickets for all matches would be made available on a first-come first-served basis on Friday.

"Fans are advised to place their orders as soon as tickets go on sale as high demand is expected and tickets are likely to sell out very quickly," the statement said.

FIFA added that discounted tickets for seats with a partially obstructed view will also be made available for Russian residents only.