Tickets for ASEAN Cup second-leg final between Vietnam and Thailand sold out in 2 hours

The Rajamangala Stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 51,500. The 47,000 tickets released for online and in-person sale were made available starting at 10:00 a.m. Thursday. Within less than two hours, the organizers announced that all tickets were sold.

Thailand fans at Rajamangala Stadium during their 3-1 victory over the Philippines in the ASEAN Cup second-leg semifinal on Dec. 30, 2024. Photo by FAT

Tickets for the home team were divided into six categories with five price levels, the highest being 500 baht (US$14.53) and the lowest 200 baht. The visiting team were allocated around 3,000 tickets, all priced at 500 baht each.

This is the first time Thailand have sold out tickets for a home match in the 2024 ASEAN Cup. During the group stage, Rajamangala Stadium hosted 25,619 and 15,261 spectators for the 1-0 win over Malaysia and the 3-2 victory against Cambodia, respectively. In the second-leg semifinal, the stadium saw an attendance of 31,876 as the home team defeated the Philippines 3-1. This was the highest attendance for a match in this tournament so far, but it could be surpassed in the second-leg final on Jan. 5.

Madam Pang, Chairperson of the Football Association of Thailand, was delighted by the support and trust from the fans, believing that the "12th player" will be a great source of encouragement for coach Masatada Ishii and his squad.

The first-leg final at Vietnam's Viet Tri Stadium in northern Vietnam's Phu Tho Province on Thursday experienced a similar ticket shortage, as all tickets sold online were purchased within about 30 minutes. Due to the overwhelming traffic, the system experienced an overload, causing a delay in ticket sales. The Viet Tri Stadium has a seating capacity of 20,000, approximately 66% of Rajamangala Stadium.

The Vietnam - Thailand clash is considered the "El Clásico" of Southeast Asian football due to the stature and history of the rivalry between the two national teams. Thailand won the championship four times (2014, 2016, 2020, and 2022) in the last five editions, while Vietnam won in 2008, 2018 and reached the finals in three of the last four tournaments.

Vietnam are eyeing their third championship, while Thailand are pursuing their eighth, potentially becoming the first team to win three consecutive titles.

After 24 matches, the 2024 ASEAN Cup has attracted 326,557 spectators, averaging 13,607 attendees per game. Thailand lead in average attendance with 24,252, followed by Malaysia (20,997), Cambodia (19,273), Vietnam (16,373), and Indonesia (15,922).

The overall audience count for this tournament is certain to be lower than the previous edition (479,571 spectators, averaging 18,445 per match). This is partly due to several teams being unable to use their largest-capacity stadiums, such as Vietnam (My Dinh Stadium), Indonesia (Gelora Bung Karno Stadium), and Singapore (National Stadium).

The record attendance for an ASEAN Cup tournament - previously known as the Tiger Cup and AFF Cup - was set in 2018, with 757,570 spectators over 26 matches.