The organising committee of next year's World Cup are hoping that USA's surprise win over Spain in the semi-finals will boost interest in next year's event.

USA surprisingly beat Spain 2-0 in Wednesday's semi-final to book a final showdown with Brazil or the hosts South Africa.

Spain, the European champions, played a strong side but were outclassed. This tournament was marred by empty seats - organisers gave away tens of thousands of free tickets - but Jermaine Craig, a spokesman for the committee, hopes that will not be the case next summer when the best sides in the world come to visit.

"It's going to be a major boost, I'm sure, for ticketing sales for next year," he said.

"We've just come from New York just before the tournament started, and I've seen a phenomenal interest and, really, excitement in the US about the World Cup. And certainly the response since this victory has been quite incredible."