Messi's Argentina prove top attraction

Tickets for two games featuring Lionel Messi's Argentina have been the top attractions for fans at this year's World Cup in Qatar, according to the chief organiser.

Argentina's first round group games against arch-rivals Mexico on November 26 and Saudi Arabia on November 22 were the "most requested", Nasser Al-Khater, CEO of the Qatar organising committee, told the QNA national news agency late Wednesday.

Both matches will be at the 80,000-capacity Lusail stadium, where the World Cup final will be staged on December 18.

The official did not give figures but the Argentina-Mexico match was sold out in the first round of online sales at the start of the year.

FIFA said this month 2.45 million tickets have been sold for the first World Cup in an Arab nation, which Al-Khater promised would be "a great carnival".

There are 3.2 million tickets in total with more than one million going to sponsors and FIFA partners.

Argentina and Mexico have been named among the top ticket-buying countries along with Qatar, the United States, England, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Brazil and Germany.

Qatar has said it expects about 1.2 million visitors at the 32-nation event that starts November 20.