India-Pakistan Match Outdraws the Final in 2027 World Cup Ticket Ballot

Ticket demand for next year's ICC Men's ODI World Cup, to be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, has surged worldwide. The International Cricket Council (ICC) says 120,809,467 ticket applications had been submitted as of November 1.

According to the ICC, nearly 280 million fans from 193 countries have registered to buy tickets, and more than 32 million match registrations have been completed so far. The ticket ballot application window closes on November 21.

In the early demand figures, the clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan has outdrawn even the tournament final. The India-Pakistan match scheduled for October 10 next year in Johannesburg has drawn more than 8 million applications, against 7,900,944 for the final in the same city on November 21.

Co-host South Africa leads the ballot registrations, followed by the United Kingdom, India, the United States and Australia. A total of 140,936,708 ticket applications have come from across the African continent, including the three host nations.

More than 105 million requests have been made for the 41 matches to be played at South Africa's eight venues. Of those, around 26 million applications are for South Africa's own 11 matches, including the Super Seven stage.

Matches in Zimbabwe have attracted 130,350,190 applications in total. More than 33 million of those requests are for a single game — Zimbabwe versus India on October 24 at the new Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium in Victoria Falls.

The six matches in Windhoek, Namibia, have received more than 2 million applications. The highest demand there is for the England versus Bangladesh match on October 8, at roughly 900,000 requests.

The men's Cricket World Cup returns to African soil after 24 years. ICC General Manager (Events and Cricket Operations) Gaurav Saxena said the huge response from cricket fans reflects the tournament's global appeal and the historic significance of the World Cup's return to Africa after two and a half decades.

Kondisa Ngwenya, chief executive of the tournament's Local Organising Committee, said the interest from fans across Africa and around the world is a great motivation to make the event a success. The tournament will feature 14 teams and 57 matches across 12 venues.