The 46‑seat arena that hosted South Korea’s 2‑1 win over the Czech Republic held an official crowd of 44,985, a number that FIFA says was derived from tickets scanned and the number of spectators inside the stadium’s footprint, rather than from a visual accounting of seat occupancy.

FIFA issued a statement after the Greek‑style Greek‑named (rm) analysis of pre‑tournament data began to highlight that fans often paid high prices to secure tickets that were not guaranteed to translate into seat occupancy over the full match. By explaining that “official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match,” the organisation attempted to counter accusations that it was inflating numbers.

Despite a later image released by the organisers that showed the venue almost entirely full, the scene of concourses filled with fans – many with ticketed tickets – reinforced calls for a clearer breakdown of how crowd size is calculated. In the same season, other fixtures such as the opening game in Mexico City drew over 80,000 viewers, with heavy emphasis on ticket pricing and the availability of seats for smaller football nations like the Czech Republic.

At the broader level, the concern over ticket distribution aligns with commentary that pricing strategies and travel costs may have priced certain audiences out of the tournament. The clash of small‑team presence versus high‑cost expectations underscores FIFA’s challenge of balancing a global spectacle with equitable fan access.

The current stance remains that attendance figures are based on operational data that FIFA trusts for accurate reporting, and that its partnership with stadium authorities ensures transparency in future events. The incident nevertheless sets a precedent for more detailed scrutiny of matchday spectator counts in future World Cups.