With the fourth ticket sales phase for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa kicking off on Tuesday, 9 February ? the Ticketing Sub-Committee has urged fans to buy tickets early to avoid disappointment.

A minimum of 400 000 tickets for a total of 53 matches will be made available during the next 58 days until 7 April.

Tickets will be allocated on a 'first come, first serve' basis, subject to availability. Applications can be made via the FIFA.com website or at FNB branches (for South African residents only).

"As we enter this fourth ticketing phase, it is important for football fans to note that time is very important when one applies for a ticket," said Horst R. Schmidt, Chairman of the FIFA World Cup Ticketing Sub-Committee.

He added: "The first come first serve principle means that if you do not apply on time, you run the risk of not getting a ticket. That is why it is crucial for fans to process their applications speedily.

"We are content with the ticket sales results so far having sold already two millions tickets. We still have two more ticketing phases to sell out the event."

Click here to enter! Eleven matches out of the 64 FIFA World Cup matches will not be available at this stage.

The matches are: (match numbers: 5: ENGLAND v USA, 23: ENGLAND v ALG, 37: SLOVENIA v ENGLAND, 45: PORTUGAL v BRAZIL, 54: Round of 16 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 56: Round of 16 at Cape Town, 59: Quarterfinal at Cape Town, 60: Quarterfinal at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, 61: Semi-final at Cape Town, 62: Semi-final at Durban and 64: Final at Soccer City, Johannesburg).

However, tickets for all matches in Mangaung/ Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Polokwane and Tshwane/ Pretoria, are available as well as matches at Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth (except SLOVENIA v ENGLAND) and Rustenburg (except ENGLAND v USA).

A few tickets could potentially still be made available for all matches at a later stage as some tickets, initially allocated to teams or commercial partners, might be returned to the general public sales process.

As an additional service, fans can now check the latest state of ticket availability, including team specific ticket series, regularly on FIFA.com as from 1PM on Tuesday, 9 February.