The stories generated from the FIFA World Cup do not always have a happy theme. True, there is excitement, expectation, joy, but also a certain frustration surrounding this tournament. One such story is that of the tickets available for Qatar 2022. It is clear that demand far outstrips supply.
Simply put, for the last official phase of ticket sales for the World Cup there were only 500,000 tickets available, after 2.5 million had already been sold in the past phases according to official figures from FIFA and the tournament's organizing committee.
Against this backdrop, news has emerged that is not good for the millions of fans who have, or had, the illusion of attending Qatar 2022 live to enjoy one or more matches: one of the megastars of world soccer and his National Team have become the first country to sell out tickets for their group stage matches.
Argentina and Lionel Messi, the best ticket sellers in Qatar 2022
It was a foregone conclusion. The possibility that a true legend of the sport, such as Lionel Messi, will have his last dance in a World Cup during Qatar 2022, triggered the demand for tickets for any match in which the Argentina National Team would be involved.
Thus, since the first official FIFA ticketing phases for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, Argentina and Lionel Messi's group stage matches against Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland have always been included in the list of the most requested matches by the millions of interested fans.
In fact, at the end of the second official ticket sales phase for Qatar 2022, in August, the tournament organizing committee made it official that there were no more tickets available for Argentina vs Mexico and Argentina vs Saudi Arabia. Two of the three initial opportunities to see Lionel Messi play his fifth World Cup had vanished.
The final blow: there are no more tickets available for Argentina and Lionel Messi's World Cup matches
With the launch of the last official phase of ticket sales for Qatar 2022, in which only 500,000 tickets were available, the bombshell went off: the tickets that sold out the fastest were those for the Poland vs Argentina match, the last match of both teams in the group stage.
At the beginning of the process, the match that will see Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi face each other, possibly in a decisive duel to determine which teams qualify for the Round of 16 of the upcoming World Cup, was on the list of matches with low ticket availability in FIFA's ticket sales platform. This status was soon changed to sold out.
The culprits behind Messi and Argentina's sold-out tickets to Qatar 2022
Yes, Argentina is always considered one of the teams to beat in every World Cup it participates in. It is also undeniable that Lionel Messi is, despite his prime being behind him, one of the best players in the world and one of the best in history.
However, there are a couple of factors that could have made millions of fans decide to turn out to watch the Albiceleste and the Paris Saint-Germain star live in Qatar 2022. At least as far as this team's first three matches in the upcoming World Cup are concerned.
Until September 2022, Lionel Scaloni has guided Argentina to a 34-game unbeaten streak. They managed to break a long drought of 29 years without winning a title by winning the Copa America 2021. The last defeat of the team led by Lionel Messi was against their usual nemesis, Brazil,in the Semifinal of the Copa America 2019.
Argentina's unbeaten streak was boosted by the prediction made by an English stock broker, which has correctly pointed out the champion of the last two editions of the FIFA World Cup, in which it is predicted that the Albiceleste will be crowned champions of Qatar 2022.
