by Janek Speight , Kalika Mehta — 13 August 2023
The opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup against Norway saw a huge crowd of 42,000 Kiwis, breaking the previous record of 26,000 who watched the biggest football match in New Zealand. Australia followed suit, with nearly 75,000 fans cheering on the Matildas 1-0 win over Ireland. Going into the semi-finals, ticket sales are expected to hit 1.98 million for the entire tournament, which equates to an average of 31,000 fans attending each of the 64 matches. This surpasses the previous record of 1.35 million at the 2015 World Cup in Canada. However, the number of games in this year’s tournament is lower than in 2015, with only 52 games. The host country’s involvement has been a resounding success, with a surge in football in Australia and New Zealand over the past month and equally impressive global interest.