FIFA are still trying to resolve the transport issues which they say have contributed to the empty seats visible at a number of matches during the World Cup so far.
The sport's world governing body say the problem has been caused because transport arranged to ferry group-sale purchasers to the matches have not worked.
But the organisation's head of media Nicolas Maingot pointed out that attendances - which he insisted only count people who are actually admitted to the stadium on a matchday - are the second highest of any tournament since 1982 at this stage.
Maingot said: "As I've said we had made some group sales and those group sales are packages for large organisations. They did sell but the outcome has not always been successful.
"We are talking about sold seats not being occupied - the most likely explanation is the distribution of tickets, and the transportation getting people to the stadiums. The transport system has not worked properly and we are working on that.
"What we have realised is that some ticket-holders, including international ticket-holders, did not turn up. Tickets were sold but not printed. But when you look at this issue of empty seats you need to look at the bigger picture.
"The bigger picture is we have now the second highest attendance since 1982. It is not nice to see empty seats but the attendances are good.
"We are working on different measures to improve distribution of tickets and transportation."
Meanwhile, local organising committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo hopes hosts South Africa can gain a positive result against Uruguay tomorrow night to keep the momentum of the tournament going. Bafana Bafana drew with Mexico in their opening match and a victory over Uruguay would give them a good chance of reaching the last 16.
"You have seen that in past World Cups, if the host team does well the excitement in the country continues to grow. You saw that with the overwhelming support Bafana Bafana got before the tournament," Mkhondo said.
On the issue on the lack of goals scored, Maingot insisted people should wait until the end of the tournament before drawing conclusions. Only 18 were scored in the first 11 games, compared to 27 at this stage in 2006 and 31 after 11 matches of the 2002 World Cup.
He said: "We are at 11 games and you can only really have a view on the average of goals when 64 games are played. Speaking about the average now would be wrong."