Organisers are on a mission to sell a record 1.5 million tickets for the biggest multi-sport event to be staged in England since the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

But with just eight days to go until the Games are due to open, Birmingham 2022 has told insidethegames that about 200,000 tickets are still available after selling more than 1.2 million.

It is set to be the best attended Commonwealth Games in history, surpassing Glasgow 2014 which sold one million tickets, and Gold Coast 2018 where 1.02 million tickets were purchased.

But Birmingham 2022 officials are determined to ensure all tickets are sold before the Games get underway.

Among the events where there remains "good availability" include rugby sevens at the Coventry Stadium, women’s Twenty20 cricket at Edgbaston Stadium and beach volleyball at Smithfield.

Boxing, badminton and table tennis - all staged at the National Exhibition Centre - are other sports that have yet to achieve sell-outs for the Games.

According to Birmingham 2022, the most popular sports have proven to be artistic gymnastics, swimming, 3x3 basketball and England netball matches as well as the evening sessions of athletics.

Cycling tickets have also been snapped up across the mountain bike, track, road race and time trial disciplines.

Birmingham 2022 said people might "struggle" to get tickets for the Opening Ceremony that is set to be held at the Alexander Stadium on July 28 with Birmingham band Duran Duran named as the headline act.

But it is understood that there are still tickets available for the Closing Ceremony which is due to take place at the same venue on August 8.

The Alexander Stadium has undergone a £72 million ($99million/€82million) redevelopment in time for the Games and is set to bring the spectator capacity up to 30,000 thanks to the addition of temporary seating.

Although tens of thousands of tickets still need to be sold, Birmingham 2022 and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF)  remain optimistic that sales will ramp up as the Games near.

"Birmingham 2022 will be a fantastic sporting event," a CGF spokesperson told insidethegames.

"Over 1.2 million tickets have already been sold for the Commonwealth Games, and we expect that number to increase in the coming days. We have 4,500 athletes competing across 19 sports and there is no doubt that they will receive huge support at every venue."