Argentina’s friendly in Jerusalem next month against Israel sold out within 20 minutes of tickets being put op for sale.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is expected in the line-up for the June 9 friendly at the Teddy Stadium, which has a capacity of 31,733 seats.
“No sporting event has ever caused such hysteria in Israel,” the Le’an agency handling ticket sales said, adding that nearly 100,000 people applied for tickets when the were put up for sale on Sunday. Only 20,000 are available.
Prices ranged between 44 shekels (roughly $12 or €10) for children and soldiers to 825 shekels for VIP seats, but were being resold for up to 4,500 shekels on social media networks.
The Israel friendly will be Argentina’s second preparatory fixture before the World Cup, after a May 29 game against Haiti.
Their first match in the summer tournament is against Iceland on June 16, followed by a June 21 fixture against Croatia and their closing game of the group stage against Nigeria on June 26.
Israel haven’t qualified for the World Cup since 1970, finishing fourth in their qualifying group behind Spain, Italy, and Albania this time around.
Argentina have a history of playing Israel in friendlies to get ready for the World Cup. They lost 2-1 in a 1998 fixture, but a Maradona-led side thrashed Israel 7-2 before the 1990 World Cup.
Next month’s fixture will start after dark in order to allow observant Jews to watch either at the stadium or on TV without violating their Sabbath, which prohibits traveling by motorised transport and the use of electricity. The Sabbath will run from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
