The third phase of ticket sales for the World Cup started a few days ago, and despite the justifiable backlash over ticket prices I have applied for tickets for both of the knockout games being held in Seattle. In each case, I applied for the cheapest tickets I could - which for the round of 32 match was $200, and for the round of 16 match was $270. Yes, that's the price for the cheapest tickets. Sigh. And when you find out that there were 5 million ticket requests in the first 24 hours that this phase was open, and that applications are open for another month before they make the random draw to see who has secured tickets, I think my chances of actually getting seats are slim to none. No big deal - even if I win, there is a reasonable chance that the US could end up playing in one of these knockout games if they win their group - in which case I could probably resell the ticket for a considerable profit. The group games being held in Seattle are Belgium vs Egypt (probably the most attractive group game in Seattle, but not attractive enough to buy a ticket for - at least not yet, since the price may come down closer to the game), USA vs Australia (not of interest to me, so I'm going to leave to the US fans), Italy (probably) vs Qatar (if this ends up being Wales or Northern Ireland instead of Italy, I might try to get tickets for this game), and Egypt vs Iran (a game which has already courted controversy because it is being held during Pride weekend in Seattle, and so has been designated a "Pride match" - despite homosexuality being illegal in both Egypt and Iran). I didn't even consider applying for tickets for any England games - none of the group games are being held on the West Coast, and when you factor in inflated travel and accommodation costs on top of the inflated ticket prices then it's just not worth it. The World Cup hasn't even started yet, and I'm already growing weary of it.