20,000 tickets sold for World Cup qualifier between All Whites and Peru

Chris Wood in action. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.co.nz

Next month's New Zealand leg of the Fifa World Cup qualifying tie between the All Whites and Peru in Wellington is on track for a full house with 20,000 tickets sold in the first hour of pre-sale.

New Zealand Football Chief Executive Andy Martin described it as an amazing result which exceeded the organisation's high expectations for the biggest fixture of the year.

"We knew there was huge demand for this game and that has been shown today by the New Zealand public," said Martin.

"This is the highest demand we have ever seen for an All Whites match in New Zealand," he added.

"We can't wait for November 11 which is not only going to be a special day for New Zealand Football but for sport in this country. There is unprecedented demand for this event and I think people recognise it is a one-in-four-year event and also that this All Whites team has a real chance of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Russia."

The All Whites Road to Russia Waitlist was the largest in Ticketek history for any event, with 15,665 fans signing up.

Looking back to 2013 when the All Whites played Mexico in the same fixture, there were 14,500 tickets sold on the first day they were available, compared to 20,000 tickets in the first hour today.

Ticket sales are strong across all three categories - platinum, gold and silver.

New Zealand Football and Westpac Stadium - with a capacity of just under 35,000 - will analyse the ticket sales from today and tickets will still be available for the General Public from 12pm on Friday 20 October.