Seats are unoccupied during the group D World Cup soccer match between Uruguay and Costa Rica at the Arena Castelao in Fortaleza, Brazil, Saturday, June 14, 2014. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) (The Associated Press)
SAO PAULO – One of the World Cup's most exciting games had most empty seats in the first round of the tournament in Brazil.
More than 3,500 seats were empty when the Netherlands routed defending champion Spain 5-1 in the northeastern city of Salvador on Friday, according to FIFA's match reports.
Although it wasn't the worst crowd — 48,173 attended the match at the Arena Fonte Nova — it was the game with the most unused seats.
Crowds have been good so far, but there were many matches with empty seats across the 12 host cities. Nearly all matches were sold out ahead of the tournament, and FIFA said "the empty seats corresponded to either no-shows or people who did not collect their tickets."
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.