Fans can now beat many countries in securing World Cup tickets. At the moment, only seven other countries apart from hosts, Russia have secured tickets to the lead FIFA event.

The qualified teams are Iran, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia.

But while many countries are still battling for tickets, individual fans worldwide can obtain theirs from 10:00 Nigerian time on Thursday.

According to a media release by FIFA, the tickets will be exclusively on sale on FIFA.com/tickets.

“We have put in place a ticketing system that will enable all fans a fair chance to secure tickets. Throughout history, fans have made a key contribution to the fascination of the FIFA World Cup.

“Russia promises to be a unique continuation of this history, with outstanding organisation and a great atmosphere in the stadiums,” said FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura.

According to the release, World Cup tickets will be available during the sales phases. There will be the first sales phase which is divided into two stages.

During the first period of sales phase 1, which starts this Thursday and run through to October 12, fans will be able to submit their ticket applications.

During this sales period, it will make no difference whether they submit their applications on Day 1, the last day or any time in between, as all applications will have the same chance of being successful.

In cases where the number of tickets applied for exceeds the available inventory, tickets will be allocated by a random selection draw process.

All successful, partially successful and unsuccessful applicants will be duly notified of the outcome of their applications by November 16.

From November 16 to 28, tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The second phase of tickets sales will begin after the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on December 1.

Like the first phase, it will also have two stages. This will comprise a random selection draw period from December 5 to 31 January 2018 and a further first-come, first-served period from 13 March to 3 April 2018.

Tickets purchased during sales phases 1 and 2 will be delivered free of charge to fans in the weeks leading up to the tournament, with deliveries planned to start in April/May 2018. This is however subject to change.

There is also a window for last minute sales which will be implemented on a first-come, first-served basis from 18 April to 15 July 2018, the day of the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.

FIFA also explained the types of tickets that will be available. In the first phase of tickets’ sales, individual match tickets for a specific matches, will be available for all matches from the opening game through to the final.

Also, there will be venue-specific ticket series and ticket strips for a specific stadium. These strips include the group matches (except the opening match), the round-of-16 match and the play-off for third place played at the specific venue of choice.

For instance, the venue-specific ticket series for Luzhniki Stadium includes three group matches and one round-of-16 match. It does not include the opening match, semi-final or final.

There will also be team-specific ticket series. These are ticket strips for fans to follow the national team of their choice. Team-specific ticket series are available as packages that include three to seven matches and can only be requested during sales phase 1.

There is a fourth ticket sale category which is in line with the ticketing policy implemented at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. Residents of the host country will exclusively benefit from this special price category.

The mode of payments for the tickets in the first two phases will be by Visa card which is the Official Payment Services Partner of FIFA.