Empty seats have all been paid for

One of the World Cup's most exciting games had the 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 last Friday, according to FIFA's match reports and its numbers on stadium capacities.

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.