England football fans have always struggled to follow their national team, not least the ability to get tickets to major tournaments like the FIFA World Cup. With one hundred thousand football fans traveling regularly and the worldwide popularity of the English Premier League, tickets to every England game in the World Cup Finals are always oversubscribed, with a demand for the last games of 2006 in Germany outbid by a factor of 20 with more than 20 million applications from all over the world on the official FIFA website, for only 750,000 available tickets. The June 2010 tournament in South Africa will be no different and the demand for tickets to England matches will be exaggerated by the large number of English expats living and working in the Republic.

So how do English fans get tickets to see their team in South Africa this summer? Fortunately for this World Cup, there are several alternative methods and means of obtaining tickets, however, most of these are expensive.

If you want to buy England World Cup tickets at face value, there are two official channels; FIFA, the tournament’s organizing body, and the English Football Association, known as the FA.

The first port of call for fans should be the official world cup ticket website at FIFA.com. You must register on the site and confirm your identity before being guided through the ticketing application process where you can submit your England ticket application. You can apply for a maximum of four tickets, for England’s seven matches, which means they will reach the final. You will need to provide valid passport details and have a credit card. You can apply for tickets in categories one, two or three, which once you have applied your name will be entered into a lottery and if successful you will be notified by email at the end of each draw. Tickets will only be available for collection at FIFA offices in South Africa, from April 2010, to discourage people from buying tickets without intending to travel. The final phases of FIFA lottery sales start on February 9 and this will be followed by a first-come, first-served sale in April.

The second method of obtaining England World Cup tickets at face value is to apply through the Official English FA Football Supporters Club. You will need to register an England fan and pay the annual membership fee. The FA has a limited allocation of World Cup tickets, has preferential ticket arrangements for long-term members and is generally oversubscribed. However, it is worth joining because the fan club provides valuable assistance to members when traveling abroad and is often the source of last-minute returned tickets.

The third way to experience England in South Africa is to purchase a tour package through an official FIFA endorsed tour operator. There are four official England travel agents associated with the 2010 World Cup; Keith Prowse, Thompson Sports Holidays, Thomas Cook and BAC Sport. All offer a variety of travel and ticket packages, from England vs. USA, Algeria and Slovenia single-game trips for around three to four thousand pounds per trip; to a four-day trip to the World Cup final from around £6,500 for the experience. However, despite the insistence of tour operators that they make no profit on England tickets, it is often much cheaper to buy the equivalent travel and accommodation services and World Cup tickets yourself.

Another source for World Cup England tickets, often the best seats on Stadia, is Corporate Hospitality. FIFA has announced that the full allocation of 308,000 seats has been set aside for corporate hospitality. However, expect to pay a hefty premium for these services with hospitality starting at around double the price of England games tour packages.

The final method of obtaining England World Cup tickets is to purchase them online through a reseller, where the tickets will be exchanged for four or five times their face value. Due to the distribution methods employed by the organizers, the majority of England tickets will eventually find their way onto these internet resale sites, especially from football authorities around the world, individual resellers or hospitality ticket sellers who have a surplus. You can guarantee that if you see two-thirds of the stadium at an England World Cup match filled with England fans, most will have gotten their tickets through an internet reseller. eBay should be avoided as many scammers operate there, as do websites operating in the UK, where it is illegal to resell World Cup tickets you don’t own. If you apply through these, you run a serious risk of not receiving your tickets.