Second phase of World Cup ticketing to a close Monday November 16

(AFP/JOHN MACDOUGALL)

The second session of FIFA's five-phase approach to ticketing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is due to end on November 16. Prices range from $80 (€54) for a group phase match to $900 (€600) for pitch-side seating during the grand final.

The current round began on May 4 and any remaining tickets will be prioritised to those whose applications are received first.

World Cup tickets will once again be made available when the third phase starts on December 5 and runs until January 22 2010, when hopefuls will cross their fingers and wait to see if they will be first out of the pot.

After that, latecomers will need to get in quickly as the final ticketing phases, February 9 - April 7 and April 15 - July 11, are both operated on a first-come, first-served basis and, by that point, the lucky few will not have much time to organise transport and accommodation to the finals.

However, those who are selected to receive match tickets from FIFA before then won't have to wait until Summer 2010 to get their hands on them - the first phase that ended in March resulted in 5.5 million tickets being distributed after a total of 1.8 million requests.

FIFA ticketing center: fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/ticketing
South Africa 2010 tourist information: southafrica.net/2010