Tribal Football

England face 50,000 empty seats for World Cup warm-up as just 13,000 tickets sold

England face 50,000 empty seats for World Cup warm-up as just 13,000 tickets sold
England face 50,000 empty seats for World Cup warm-up as just 13,000 tickets soldAction Images via Reuters

England's World Cup warm-up against New Zealand has barely sold any tickets ahead of this summer's competition.

England will take on New Zealand on June 6th and will then face Costa Rica on June 10th ahead of the World Cup across the US, Canada and Mexico which begins in just 15 days time. 

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The Three Lions will be based in Kansas City, Missouri for the tournament but will face New Zealand in south Florida as they prepare themselves for intense heat across the pond. 

England's training base for the tournament will be the state-of-the-art Swope Soccer Village which is a training facility of Major League Soccer (MLS) club Sporting Kansas City, located in Kansas City's Swope Park. 

However, their impressive training camp and preparation may be ruined by the lack of fans ready to welcome them to the US as both The Mirror and The Times report that the New Zealand friendly has sold only 13,000 tickets. 

This would be okay for a smaller venue, but the Raymond James Stadium has a capacity of 69,000 meaning the vast majority of the venue will be empty and lifeless. 

The Sun report only 1,500 official England Supporters Travel Club members are signed up as of today out of the 3,776 allocation in what is a poor turn-out just weeks before the game. 

It has been revealed that the cheapest tickets cost £54 with the FA reportedly insisting the rate is decent for sport in the US, despite the game being a friendly. 

This is in comparison to the most affordable tickets for England's opening fixture against Croatia in Texas that were listed at £628 on FIFA's resale platform in April. 

England's first group game against Croatia comes on June 17th before they face Ghana on June 23rd, and Panama on June 27th. 

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