England’s biggest match for more than a decade is in danger of being played out in front of thousands of empty seats.

At least 2,000 tickets suddenly became available on Fifa.com on Thursday for the Three Lions’ World Cup quarter-final against Sweden, the most for any of their games this close to kick-off.

That is on top of those unsold on the secondary market and those still in the hands of Russia-based touts.

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Desperate Russian authorities have spent the day doing everything possible to entice Britons to travel to the match venue in Samara - whether they already have tickets or not - by offering to issue visas within one working day and helping to find accommodation.

But supporters wanting to witness England attempt to reach their first World Cup semi-final for 28 years are in a race against time to make it to the ground for kick-off.

Those who have left it until Friday to travel are facing disappointment, with almost no seats remaining on flights that would arrive on time and the few that are left costing more than £1,500.

The sight of thousands of empty seats at the 45,000-capacity Samara Arena could anger fans who had been on the hunt for tickets since England ended their penalty shoot-out curse in their last-16 win over Colombia on Tuesday night.

That witnessed a spike in Google searches for ‘World Cup tickets’ but, until Thursday, there was little chance of getting hold of them on the Fifa website.

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The picture suddenly changed barely 48 hours before kick-off when at least 2,000 tickets suddenly became available, mostly Category 1 (£276) and Category 2 (£193), although there were also some Category 3 (£132).

Explaining the late release of tickets, a Fifa spokesman told The Telegraph: “Our ticketing colleagues got tickets back from other constituent groups.”

That could include Colombia supporters, who outnumbered England fans almost 10 to one at Tuesday’s game and many of whom may have bought tickets in anticipation of victory.

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Increasing the likelihood of thousands of empty seats is the fact that England’s fanbase in Russia is already the lowest for any major tournament for years, while Sweden supporters have not travelled in huge numbers either.

As well as advertising fast-tracked visas to entice Britons to Samara to attend the game or watch it in the city’s fan zone, the Russian National Tourist Office has been approached by local football club Kryliya Sovetov, which organised a floating hotel that could accommodate up to 80 people.