JOHANNESBURG -- World Cup ticket sales have hit 97 percent and organizers are expecting to have sold more than 98 percent of the more than 3 million tickets by the end of the tournament.

FIFA released figures two days ahead of the opening World Cup match showing that 135,000 of the 3.01 million tickets available for purchase remained unsold.

Of those, 30,600 -- including 5,000 with partially obstructed views -- were available for public sale Wednesday. The remainder, allocated for hospitality packages, tour companies, national federations and teams, could be available for sale later in the tournament.

"There's not many [tickets] left for the group stage," FIFA media officer Wolfgang Eichler said. "We do expect attendance of 98 percent."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press