Thousands of seats are EMPTY at the start of Morocco’s World Cup quarter-final tie with Portugal

Saturday’s first quarter-final between Morocco and Portugal has been marred by seemingly thousands of supporters struggling to enter the ground. 

Thousands of empty seats were visible on television as the game kicked off, with ITV Sport commentator Jon Champion suggesting there was not a ‘mad rush’ for supporters late in to get to their seats. 

Qatar 2022 has experienced some struggles in selling out the stadiums, which were all purpose built for the tournament. Though Morocco are the best supported team remaining in the tournament and their matches have been marked by full stadiums and a raucous atmosphere seldom seen elsewhere.

Reports of supporters struggling to get in were circulated, as it was suggested that trouble had started with ticketless fans trying to get in in their place. 

Reporters outside the ground said supporters had told them the empty seats were owing to ‘extra layers of security’ as they entered the ground. 

Others suggested that ticketless supporters had blocked the path for those with tickets from entering the ground. It was reported riot police were then deployed to try and rectify the issues. 

Another figure inside the ground appeared to suggest FIFA were a ‘disgrace’ for starting the game on time, with the ground reportedly only 25 per cent full at kick-off. 

‘Extraordinary that North Africa’s biggest football match ever is about to start in a 25 per cent full stadium as thousands are outside trying to get in with heavy handed police/security and thousands of ticketless fans able to get right by the ground. A disgrace @FIFA,’ they tweeted. 

As the game wore on, the ground became increasingly busier with Champion suggesting someone had ‘found the keys to another couple of gates’. 

The start of the tournament was marked by ticket problems with FIFA’s app. They released a statement after some supporters failed to get in to England-Iran on time.   

It read: ‘Some spectators are currently experiencing an issue with accessing their tickets via the FIFA ticketing app. FIFA is working on solving the issue.

‘In the meantime, fans who are not able to access their mobile tickets should check the email accounts they used to register with the ticketing app for further instructions. 

‘In case fans cannot access their email accounts, the stadium’s Ticket Resolution Point will be able to support.

‘We thank fans for their understanding as we work to fix the issue as soon as possible.’ 

Initial reports naturally instigated fears that a situation could develop similar to that which marred this year’s Champions League final. 

UEFA’s showpiece game saw its kick-off time delayed by over half an hour as Liverpool supporters struggled to enter the ground amid heavy-handed tactics from the French police, with them using tear gas and batons on innocent supporters. 

The European governing body issued ‘sincere apologies’ to those impacted by the violence and other distressing scenes that they saw upon trying to enter the ground at the end of May. They had initially put up a statement on the Stade de France’s big screens blaming ticketless supporters for trying to enter for the trouble. 

More follows.