FIFA Women’s World Cup Breaks Attendance Records

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ is proving a resounding success just six days into the tournament thanks to record attendances and more than 1.5 million tickets sold.

With the tournament currently underway in Australia and New Zealand, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has thanked the two host nations for their efforts in raising the profile of women’s football to an unprecedented level on a global scale.

“I would really like to express a huge thank you to New Zealand and to Australia for hosting us here,” the FIFA President said.

“We often say that football unites the world. New Zealand and Australia are uniting the world Down Under. They welcome all of us – every single person – the volunteers, the police officers, all the employees; everyone who is connected somehow with the (FIFA Women’s) World Cup has done a tremendous job.”

The opening day, Thursday, 20 July, saw more than 117,000 fans pack Eden Park in Auckland and Stadium Australia in Sydney. The 42,137 who attended New Zealand’s opening night defeat of Norway in Auckland was an all-time high for a football match – for women or men – in the country, while the 75,784 fans in Sydney for Australia’s match against the Republic of Ireland was the highest attendance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ for 24 years.

After only six days of the tournament, FIFA had already exceeded its target by selling more than 1.5 million tickets for the 64 matches.

After Tuesday’s game between Korea Republic and Colombia completed the first round of matches, the total attendance over the first 16 games was 459,547 with an average of 28,721—a 54% increase compared to the first 16 games of the previous tournament in France in 2019.

Infantino also spoke of the global audience, with the tournament being shown in 200 territories through 130 broadcasters. “We have incredible viewing figures across the world which will definitely reach two billion viewers. It’s fantastic,” he said.

Image: FIFA