Tickets are selling, stadiums are ready or will be on time, and South Africa has announced special arrangements for visas for foreign visitors – but the big question remains, will the country be ready on time for the 2010 football World Cup? And the bigger question, will everything go smoothly?

About three million tickets are being made available for the 2010 Fifa World Cup’s 64 matches, the first match of which will be played on June 11 2010. About a third are being allocated to South Africans, a third to international visitors, and the rest to sponsors, teams and the "Fifa family".

The first phase of ticket sales ends on March 31 2009. Applications have come in from 128 countries, with close to 217 000 applications on the Fifa website within 24 hours of sales starting on February 22 and now reportedly numbering more than 500 000.

The largest number of applications came from South Africa, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Argentina.

If matches are over-subscribed, a random selection draw will be held on April 15 2009 to allocate tickets for such matches.

South African news website the Mail and Guardian Online reported on February 18 that Fifa was aiming to prevent illicit trade in cheap tickets by making tickets available for collection only in South Africa. Irrespective of how early an application is made, fans will have to wait until April 2010 to hold a ticket in their hands, when tickets will be available for collection at designated centres in the nine host cities and at some international airports.

Local newspaper, Johannesburg-based the Sunday Times, reported on February 28 that Fifa had budgeted for a minimum 60 per cent sale of World Cup tickets, but anticipated a much higher percentage that would yield hefty profits.

SA 2010 could be the first World Cup staged amid a global recession since 1978. But David Will, chairman of Fifa’s ticketing sub-committee, says that fans’ patriotic passion would override their money worries. "I would be naive to suggest there will be no backlash as a result of the financial crisis," he told South African news agency Sapa.

"But soccer fans are a funny breed, who will go to South Africa come hell or high water if their own country qualifies for the World Cup – and we’ll need to wait until the final 32 qualifiers are known before gaining a more accurate assessment," Will said.

Home affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said that a special event visa system would be in place. Multi-lingual immigration officials will be stationed at several of the busiest airports around the world, including in the UK, India, Dubai and Hong Kong, where fans from countries that need visas to enter South Africa will be able to go through a free pre-screening and pre-clearance process.

The terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers has prompted Fifa to review and strengthen security for the 2010 World Cup. Local media reports said that Cape Town had staff shortages in its metro police and emergency services staff, but the city said that the appointment process had been delayed because of "thousands of applications".

Nine South African cities will stage the 2010 Fifa World Cup (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Rustenburg, Nelspruit and Polokwane).

The main work on all four venues first being used for this year’s Confederations Cup – Ellis Park, Loftus Versfeld, Royal Bafokeng and Free State Stadium – is complete. Nelson Mandela Bay’s 2010 World Cup stadium will not be delayed as a result of the global financial crisis, with the municipality reporting that construction is ahead of schedule. The construction of Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium is well on track and KwaZulu-Natal is ready to host the World Cup next year, provincial premier Sbu Ndebele said.