The virtual queue to buy tickets for this Thursday’s Argentina game.
“Now you’re in line. You are online for Argentina vs. Panama. When it is your turn, access the website and have 10 minutes to make your purchase,” reads the message from the Deportick website, which has been chosen by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to sell tickets for to sell the game The champion team is playing at home in Qatar Wait, there’s hope But soon comes the disappointment: “Your number in line: 1,456,362” Each user was entitled to buy between four and six tickets conservative calculation would have sold 5,825,448 tickets by the turn of the century.The River Plate Stadium has 80,000 seats, of which 17,000 have already been hand-distributed by the AFA to companies, players and executives.The illusion of being there and Supporting Lionel Messi and his team in Buenos Aires on March 23 was fleeting.
The Argentines had been waiting for weeks for tickets to go on sale for their soccer team’s game. The demand came as no surprise. When Lionel Scaloni’s team brought the trophy to Buenos Aires, millions of people accompanied the bus that took them to the center of the city. The crowd was so great that they boarded a helicopter halfway, past the obelisk, and returned to the starting point, the property AFA has on the outskirts of town.
The idea of seeing them on a field, even if it was against a Panama B team, was a consolation for those who still wanted that December 20th. The temperature was very high. In WhatsApp groups, they exchanged strategies to improve their place in the virtual queue, and friends vowed to share tickets if they got more than one. “Anyone could buy?” was the most frequently asked question. “I think if you have less than 170,000 you have an option,” some said.
Soon the TV stations moved on to something else and surrendered to the screens showing over a million places in queue. “Tell us if you could buy,” the journalists anxiously asked their viewers. The hashtags #conseguiste and #pudiste were trending on Twitter. At 3 p.m. in Buenos Aires, one hour after the start of sales, neither the AFA nor Deportick had announced whether tickets were still available. But the lucky ones who finally made it through the buying process were surprised: “Your stay time, you’ll have to queue again.” At 4:25 p.m., the site finally put the “Sold Out” sign on its front page. The dream was over.
Those lucky enough to find that tickets cost twice as much as the last time the team played in Buenos Aires. Since March 2022, when Argentina withdrew from qualifying against Venezuela, the country has experienced inflation of 102.5%. Tickets range from $35 to $250 this Thursday at the official exchange rate, but the Argentines have got used to selling out every show despite the crisis, even if they have to fall on the black market.
The suit encouraged the creativity of the living. During the ticket sale, some offered their seats for 120,000 pesos (almost $600 at the official exchange rate). “I use bots to get ahead of the virtual queue to make it easier for people to get their ticket,” the offer reads. And there was even a site with the domain deportikok that promised tickets of dubious origin after sending proof of a bank deposit.
Those banned from the River Plate stadium have another chance on March 28 in Santiago del Estero (north), where the Albiceleste host the Curacao team. Authorities removed seats from the stadium to increase the capacity of the stands from 30,000 to 42,000 people, even with fans standing. Given the demand in Buenos Aires, each number will be small.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS America newsletter here and receive all the latest news from the region.