The Federation Internationale de Football Association FIFA has said it received more than 500 million ticket requests for this year's World Cup, despite growing protests over high ticket prices.
FIFA, in a statement on Wednesday, said fans from all 211 of its member nations and territories applied for tickets to the tournament, which will be hosted by the United States , Canada and Mexico .
The first application window, which used a lottery system to allocate tickets, closed on Tuesday. The global football governing body said applicants would be informed of the outcome of their requests "no earlier than February 5."
