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Football fans have snapped up over two million tickets for the World Cup in November, according to the sport's world governing body.

In the most recent phase, close to 521,000 tickets were sold. Some of the top buyers were residents from the host nation of Qatar.

The World Cup has been billed as an event that will benefit countries across the region.

The next phase of ticket sales is planned to begin in September. Half of the population of the tiny Gulf state ofQatar are expected to attend the event.

The challenge of providing sufficient rooms for visiting fans, teams and tournament staff remains a key challenge for the organizers of the tournament.

The event is going to start a day earlier than had been planned.