SINGAPORE — A visit to the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro is like a pilgrimage for football fans around the world.

And in just over a week, Mr Jun Tan will not only have made that trip, but can also claim to have watched a World Cup match at the iconic 173,000-capacity arena as Brazil hosts the World Cup for the first time since 1950.

The Singaporean, who turns 33 next Saturday, has secured a ticket to watch the Group F match between two-time world champions Argentina and tournament debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 15.

Mr Tan, a senior manager in a company in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry in Singapore, is spending more than S$5,000, including S$1,200 on his match ticket — several times more than the original price of US$175 (S$219) — via an unofficial ticketing agent after attempts to purchase one via the official website of football’s world governing body FIFA drew repeated blanks.

FIFA had released 2.57 million tickets, with prices ranging from US$175 to US$990 — the cost of a category “A” seat for the World Cup final on July 13.

However, Mr Tan does not regret the pinch on his wallet.

“Brazil is the place where real football lovers would dream of going, but not everyone has the opportunity to do so,” said Mr Tan, who will be making his maiden trip to the continent, yesterday.

“Everyone at work, my family and friends thought I was joking when I told them about my plan two years ago. Now that I am going, they believe I mean business! My wife is very supportive. She didn’t want me to have any regrets if I did not go.”

Mr Tan is among a number of Singaporeans who will be making the estimated 30-hour flight to Brazil.

Zurich-based FIFA did not respond to queries from TODAY on how many Singaporeans have purchased tickets, but a check with 15 travel agents in Singapore revealed only two — STA Travel and Dynasty Travel — conduct tours to Brazil, while other Singaporeans have made arrangements on their own.

Dynasty Travel’s tours to Brazil are mostly customised and cost S$8,000 to S$15,000, but less than 20 tours have been snapped up, though more than 60 have been sold for after the tournament.

Another Singaporean fan, who only wished to be known as “Jay”, secured two tickets to the World Cup final at US$990 each.

Travelling with his wife, they plan to meet up with six or seven other Singaporeans who will be in Brazil during the World Cup.

He said: “Some have already flown to Brazil, some are taking the opportunity to tour other parts of South America like Colombia and Ecuador and took leave from work for almost a month.”

But for Mr Raghav Bhandari, the World Cup will be his sole focus. The 26-year-old financial researcher will be attending seven matches: Six group games and a quarter-final.

However, he is concerned about the street protests that erupted at last year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, a test event for the World Cup, and which have continued to occur in the run-up to Brazil 2014.

Brazilians are angered over their government spending US$11.5 billion to stage the tournament instead of using it to improve the country’s social services and infrastructure.

“I’m taking a lot of internal flights from one match to the next, so I’m prepared for flight delays and other changes. I already found out the timing of one of my flights was changed without my knowledge,” he said.

“I hope Brazil will continue to win games as long as I am there because if they get eliminated, violence and protests will definitely be up a notch as the people would be even more unhappy.”

It will not be cheap to attend the World Cup and Mr Tan has already forked out S$700 for his stay at a local hostel and S$3,700 on his airfare. However, he plans to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime trip and will post photos of his trip on Junpiter Futbol, a self-funded football-dedicated website that he runs.

“I have planned too far to give up. I do not want any regret in my life,” he said.

“So when I decided to buy my air ticket without the game ticket, I had already planned for the worst scenario where I would just jump around pubs to catch all the live action!”

During his stay in Rio, Mr Tan is also going to participate in “Favela Football” and “Altinho Football” — a beach football-juggling event —which aim to raise funds for local communities.

He said: “Not only will I get to meet local kids, I will get a rare chance to play some real Brazilian football in Rio.”ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ADELENE WONG AND DANIAL HAKIM