Cricket World Cup: India vs Pakistan gets more ticket requests than final

What the report says

The International Cricket Council says the India-Pakistan group-stage match at the 2027 men’s Cricket World Cup has generated more ticket requests than the tournament final. According to Al Jazeera’s report, the October 10 game at the Wanderers in Johannesburg drew about 8.4 million ticket requests, while the final in the same city attracted nearly eight million.

The match is part of the World Cup scheduled for October 7 to November 21, 2027, with 57 matches across 12 venues in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The tournament will mark the first time Namibia hosts men’s ICC Cricket World Cup matches, and it will return to Africa for the first time in 24 years, based on the ICC’s announcement cited by Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reported that the ticket ballot opened on October 1 and has already exceeded 120 million total requests from 2.8 million unique fan accounts in 193 countries. Demand has been especially strong from South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, while fans from African countries accounted for 14.9 million applications.

The India-Pakistan fixture remains one of cricket’s most sought-after matches because of the rivalry and the teams’ repeated placement in the same group. The ICC said the two sides could meet again later in the tournament if both advance, underscoring the commercial and sporting pull of the contest.