World Cup attendance to reach three million

Attendance at the 2010 World Cup would reach three million after the semi-final between Germany and Spain, Fifa said.

Spokesman Nicolas Maingot said this figure included only the number of people who had watched games at the various stadiums around the country.

The only other World Cups to have been attended by three million spectators were the tournament in 1994 in the United States and in 2006 in Germany.

Attendance at Fan Fests in South Africa and abroad reached five million on Tuesday night after the semi-final between the Netherlands and Uruguay.

Fifa said 49,134 people attended the Fan Fest in Cape Town on Tuesday night to watch the Dutch beat the South Americans 3-2. There were more than 62,000 people at the game at Cape Town Stadium.

So far, about 1.7 million people had used World Cup facilities in Cape Town to watch games in the tournament.

Maingot said 800 category one tickets were still available for the semi-final between Germany and Spain in Durban.