How to Buy Tickets for the Women's World Cup

The FIFA Women's World Cup will be played between September 10 and September 30, 2007. According to the FIFA's official website, there are five cities (and stadiums) involved in the games: Tianjin Olympics Center Stadium (Tianjin), Wuhan Sports Center Stadium (Wuhan), Zhejiang Dragon Stadium (Hangzhou), Chengdu Sports Center (Chengdu) and Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium (Shanghai). There will be two games per day after the first day, which is dedicated to the opening ceremony.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Get Your Tickets

1. Don't risk missing the final. Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium, the official venue for the final match, is actually the smallest of all the stadiums hosting the Women's World Cup. At only 34,000 seats available, it may be harder to get tickets there than at any of the other venues.
2. Buy tickets online for a guaranteed seat. The FIFA website sells tickets and so do other non-official sites (see Resources below). Tickets can also be bought at the door. However, this is not recommended for the opening ceremony day or the final match, as both events will probably be sold out before the actual day.
3. Visit Shanghai's official FIFA store (at the Ban Lian Shi Mao Shopping Mall) to buy last-minute tickets and merchandise related to the World Cup. Autographed items, sportswear and memorabilia can be purchased at the store, which will remain open even after the Women's World Cup is over.
4. Buy the best tickets you can afford if you're attending the opening ceremony. The stadium is relatively large (34,000 seats) and you will miss a lot of the details if you buy the cheapest place.
5. Shop around for tickets in a few different venues before you buy. One website may only have expensive tickets left, while you may be able to find cheaper ones available in a different place. Look at a few websites before making your final choice.

Tips & Warnings

• Tickets were still available as of the end of June, but seating was reported as "limited" for some matches.
• If you can't find the tickets you want, check with Squidoo or eBay, both of which are great places to find sold-out tickets (see Resources below).
• Beware of people offering tickets in forums, chat rooms or other anonymous Internet places. Unless you can see the tickets and verify that they're real, don't agree to pay anything for them.