The World Cup has set an overall attendance record but the average figure will stay below that from the 1994 tournament.

The average per match is 65,204 ahead of the quarter-finals which start later on Thursday, governing body FIFA has said.

Even if all remaining eight games are sold out the tournament can not reach the 68,991 that came to watch the game in the United States 32 years ago.

That tournament saw 24 teams compete in 52 matches which is half the amount of games of this edition in the US, Mexico and Canada.

Overall attendance now stands at 6,259,589 after 96 of 104 matches. The previous tournament record of 3.587.538 was also set in 1994.

FIFA said 404,120 fans alone attended the five matches in Mexico City's Azteca stadium which has a capacity of over 80,000.

Despite empty seats seen at several matches, FIFA said that 99.7% of the available seats were occupied in the tournament.

The tournament is over for Mexico and Canada, with the remaining eight matches played in the US, culminating in the July 19 final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.