UEFA has said the Republic of Ireland will be among the top five most supported teams at the UEFA European Championships in France this summer, based on ticket applications.
The other four teams are host nation France, Poland, Austria and Switzerland.
The Republic of Ireland's opening match against Sweden in the Stade de France on June 13th is the second most in-demand game of the competition based on ticket applications, after the Germany vs Poland match in the same stadium on June 16th.
UEFA has made 800,000 tickets available through a ballot system and the organisation has received 3.5 million applications overall.
The deadline for applying for tickets for the Republic of Ireland's matches against Sweden, Belgium and Italy expired at 11am on Monday morning.
The FAI said that an “absolutely unprecedented” number of Irish soccer fans have applied for tickets for the championships.
FAI spokesman Ian Mallon said the association was taken aback by the demand for tickets from Irish fans.
He said that it is likely that more Irish fans will support the team this summer than in any previous tournament.
UEFA has not allowed individual football associations to disclose the number of individuals from each country who have applied for tickets.
However, Mr Mallon said that, from an Irish point of view, “there has never been an application volume like this”.
The spokesman said that all of the Republic of Ireland’s games are “way oversubscribed” and many fans will be disappointed.
Ticket allocations
To date, Irish fans have been promised 15,000 tickets for the match against Sweden, 8,000 tickets for the match against Belgium on June 18th and 9,000 tickets for the final group game against Italy.
Those allocations are likely to increase if neutral applicants do not take up the tickets allocated to them.
On January 25th, all 24 competing countries will receive their individual portals.
Mr Mallon said the number of tickets that the FAI will get for its individual portals has yet to be determined, but supply will exceed demand.
Fans who have applied through the ballot system will be told if they are successful by February 29th.
