If demand outstrips supply, tickets will go to winners of a lottery on March 28.

"As of Sunday, we received 253,693 applications," said Lee Sang-mu, a spokesman for South Korea's World Cup organizing committee.

But ticket orders were concentrated on several of the 32 matches to be played in South Korea, including those involving South Korea.

Bids for the opening match were six times the tickets available, while demand remained at only 73 percent for most of the 24 preliminary matches.

"We still have 10 days left to accept orders. We expect all matches to be sold out," Lee said.

Fifa began taking applications for 2002 World Cup tickets on February 15, but online bids in the two host countries had been delayed for 10 days due to computer problems.

Online sales were once again disrupted for hours on February 26, the day after Fifa resolved the unspecified computer problems and began taking orders through the Internet from Japanese and South Korean fans.

Fifa offers 3 million tickets for the 2002 World Cup. A combined 1.3 million tickets will be sold in the host countries, and 1.5 million internationally.

Another 200,000 will go to Fifa officials, media and observers.

A total of 740,000 tickets have been set aside for South Korea. South Korean organizers plan to sell another 300,000 tickets in the second round of bids on September 1-October 31. The remaining tickets will be sold next year.

Ticket prices range from £40 - £500.