Women's World Cup attendance tracker 2023 with full breakdown of fans at matches in Australia and New Zealand

20-08-2023
11 min read
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The Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand set a new benchmark for all-time attendance records for the tournament.

By June, over 1 million tickets had been sold, with FIFA expecting the total attendance record to be broken as women's football enjoys an explosion of popularity. Live audience figures passed the previous best mark by the Round of 16 and that only grew in over the final rounds.

The 2023 tournament comfortably surpassed the previous record thanks in part to the expanded format with a record high 32 teams playing 64 games.

Not every game proved a huge draw. Organisers in New Zealand responded to low demand for four such matches by offering to give away 20,000 tickets, including contests featuring debutants Zambia.

The attendances at the tournament, and how they compare between the two host nations, will be an interesting point of observation, and The Sporting News tracked the 2023 attendances while also looking back at the attendance records for previous tournaments.

MORE: Complete World Cup schedule | Updated group standings

2023 Women's World Cup attendance tracker

The largest attendances were at Stadium Australia in Sydney, which saw four capacity-crowd fixtures, including Australia's opening win over Republic of Ireland and the final between Spain and England. The crowd of 75,784 was a record home audience for a women's football match in Australia and the third largest in Women's World Cup history. That figure was also replicated in Australia's semifinal defeat to England, as well as the Lionesses' win over Colombia in the previous round.

It's worth noting that the 42,137 that came out to watch New Zealand's opener represented the biggest crowd in the country's football history — men's or women's.

The match with the smallest attendance was the Portugal vs Vietnam Group E match (6,645) in Waikato, New Zealand. 

Date
(in AUS/NZL)
Match Stadium Official
Attendance
% Capacity
Thu, July 20 New Zealand vs Norway Eden Park 42,137 87.3%
Thu, July 20 Australia vs Rep. of Ireland Stadium Australia 75,784 91.8%
Fri, July 21 Nigeria vs Canada Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 21,410 71.2%
Fri, July 21 Philippines vs Switzerland Forsyth Barr Stadium 13,711 47.7%
Fri, July 21 Spain vs Costa Rica Wellington Regional Stadium 22,966 58.9%
Sat, July 22 USA vs Vietnam Eden Park 41,107 85.1%
Sat, July 22 Zambia vs Japan Waikato Stadium 16,111 64.2%
Sat, July 22 England vs Haiti Lang Park 44,369 84.9%
Sat, July 22 Denmark vs China Perth Rectangular Stadium 16,989 76.4%
Sun, July 23 Sweden vs South Africa Wellington Regional Stadium 18,317 47.0%
Sun, July 23 Netherlands vs Portugal Forsyth Barr Stadium 11,991 41.7%
Sun, July 23 France vs Jamaica Sydney Football Stadium 39,045 91.8%
Mon, July 24 Italy vs Argentina Eden Park 30,889 64.0%
Mon, July 24 Germany vs Morocco Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 27,256 90.7%
Mon, July 24 Brazil vs Panama Hindmarsh Stadium 13,142 71.3%
Tue, July 25 Colombia vs South Korea Sydney Football Stadium 24,323 57.2%
Tue, July 25 New Zealand vs Philippines Wellington Regional Stadium 32,357 82.9%
Tue, July 25 Switzerland vs Norway Waikato Stadium 10,769 41.7%
Wed, July 26 Japan vs Costa Rica Dunedin Stadium 6,992 22.7%
Wed, July 26 Spain vs Zambia Eden Park 20,983 42.0%
Wed, July 26 Canada vs Rep of. Ireland Perth Rectangular Stadium 17.065 83.2%
Thu, Jul 27 USA vs Netherlands Wellington Regional Stadium 27,312 79.1%
Thu, Jul 27 Portugal vs Vietnam Stadium Waikato 6,645 25.7%
Thu, Jul 27 Australia vs Nigeria Lang Park 49,156 93.6%
Fri, Jul 28 Argentina vs South Africa Dunedin Stadium 8,834 30.7%
Fri, Jul 28 England vs Denmark Sydney Football Stadium 40,439 95.1%
Fri, Jul 28 China vs Haiti Hindmarsh Stadium 12,675 68.7%
Sat, Jul 29 Sweden vs Italy Wellington Regional Stadium 29,143 74.7%
Sat, Jul 29 France vs Brazil Lang Park 49,378 94.5%
Sat, Jul 29 Panama vs Jamaica Perth Rectangular 15,987 71.9%
Sun, Jul 30 South Korea vs Morocco Hindmarsh Stadium 12,886 69.8%
Sun, Jul 30 Norway vs Philippines Eden Park 34,697 71.8%
Sun, Jul 30 Switzerland vs New Zealand Dunedin Stadium 25,947 90.2%
Sun, Jul 30 Germany vs Colombia Sydney Football Stadium 40,499 95.8%
Mon, Jul 31 Costa Rica vs Zambia Waikato Stadium 8,117 32.3%
Mon, Jul 31 Japan vs Spain Wellington Regional Stadium 20,957 53.7%
Mon, Jul 31 Rep. of Ireland vs Nigeria Brisbane Stadium 24,884 47%
Mon, Jul 31 Australia vs Canada Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 27,706 92.2%
Tues, Aug 1 Haiti vs Denmark Perth Rectangular Stadium 17,897 87.3%
Tues, Aug 1 China vs England Hindmarsh Stadium 13,497 81.8%
Tues, Aug 1 Vietnam vs Netherlands Dunedin Stadium 8,215 26.7%
Tues, Aug 1 Portugal vs USA Eden Park 42,958 85.9%
Weds, Aug 2 South Africa vs Italy Wellington Regional Stadium 14,967 38.9%
Weds, Aug 2 Argentina vs Sweden Waikato Stadium 17,907 71.3%
Weds, Aug 2 Jamaica vs Brazil Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 27,638 91.2%
Weds, Aug 2 Panama vs France Sydney Football Stadium 40,498 95.5%
Thurs, Aug 3 South Korea vs Germany Brisbane Stadium 38,495 73.3%
Thurs, Aug 3 Morocco vs Colombia Perth Rectangular Stadium 17,342 78%
Sat, Aug 5 Switzerland vs Spain Eden Park 43,217 89.5%
Sat, Aug 5 Japan vs Norway Wellington Regional Stadium 33,042 84%
Sun, Aug 6 Netherlands vs South Africa Sydney Football Stadium 40,233 94.7%
Sun, Aug 6 Sweden vs USA Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 27,706 92.2%
Mon, Aug 7 England vs Nigeria Brisbane Stadium 49,461 94.6%
Mon, Aug 7 Australia vs Denmark Stadium Australia 75,784 91.3%
Tues, Aug 8 Colombia vs Jamaica Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 27,706 92.2%
Tues, Aug 8 France vs Morocco Hindmarsh Stadium 13,557 82.2%
Fri, Aug 11 Spain vs Netherlands Wellington Regional Stadium 32,021 82.1%
Fri, Aug 11 Japan vs Sweden Eden Park 43,217 89.6%
Sat, Aug 12 Australia vs France Brisbane Stadium 49,461 94.6%
Sat, Aug 12 England vs Colombia Stadium Australia 75,784 91.3%
Tues, Aug 15 Spain vs Sweden Eden Park 43,217 86.4%
Weds, Aug 16 Australia vs England Stadium Australia 75,784 91.3%
Sat, Aug 19 Sweden vs Australia Brisbane Stadium 49,461 94.2%
Sun, Aug 20 Spain vs England Stadium Australia 75,784 91.3%
————— —————————— TOTAL (64 matches) 1,977,824 Avg: 30,904

MORE: Where is the next FIFA Women's World Cup?

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Women's World Cup attendance record for single tournament

Following the first two matches in the Round of 16, the 2023 Women's World Cup set a new record for the biggest attendance in the tournament's history. A total of 1,977,824 fans went to the 64 games in total.

The previous best attended Women's World Cup in history came in the 2015 edition in Canada, with a total attendance of 1,353,506.

At the time it was the first World Cup to have 24 teams and 52 matches, which was a factor in securing the record.

The next best-attended tournament was the 1999 World Cup hosted by the USA, which had 1,214,209 fans attend 32 matches.

MORE: Odds to win 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

Year Host country No. of
matches
Total
Attendance
1991 China 26 510,000
1995 Sweden 26 112,213
1999 USA 32 1,214,209
2003 USA 32 679,664
2007 China 32 1,190,971
2011 Germany 32 845,751
2015 Canada 52 1,353,506
2019 France 52 1,131,312
2023 Australia &
New Zealand
64 1,977,824

Top 10 Women's World Cup attendance records all-time

The highest attendance at a single Women's World Cup match came in 1999, when 90,185 fans turned out to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to firstly watch the third placed playoff between Brazil and Norway, followed by the final, which saw the USA defeat China on penalties.

The next biggest crowd came in the same tournament's opening fixture, where 78,972 were in attendance at Giants Stadium for a double header of USA vs Denmark and Brazil vs Mexico.

Australia's opening match against the Republic of Ireland in 2023 went third on this list, making it the best-attended Women's World Cup fixture this century. The Matildas' match with Denmark in the Round of 16 returned the same figure, as did England vs. Colombia, Australia vs. England and the final.

Match Year Country Stadium Attendance
Brazil vs Norway &
USA vs China
1999 USA Rose Bowl 90,185
USA vs Denmark &
Brazil vs Mexico
1999 USA Giants Stadium 78,972
Australia vs Denmark 2023 Australia Stadium Australia 75,784
Australia vs Republic of Ireland 2023 Australia Stadium Australia 75,784
England vs Colombia 2023 Australia Stadium Australia 75,784
Australia vs England 2023 Australia Stadium Australia 75,784
Spain vs England 2023 Australia Stadium Australia 75,784
Germany vs Canada 2011 Germany Olympiastadion 73,680
USA vs Brazil 1999 USA Stanford Stadium 73,123

2023 Women's World Cup stadium capacities

There are the total of 10 stadiums being used at the 2023 Women's World Cup, with six in Australia and four in New Zealand.

The largest stadium at the tournament is Stadium Australia in Sydney, which can hold 82,500 fans, while New Zealand's largest stadium is Auckland's Eden Park, which has a capacity of over 48,000.

Stadium Capacity City Country
Stadium Australia 82,500 Sydney Australia
Lang Park 52,263 Brisbane Australia
Eden Park 48,276 Auckland New Zealand
Sydney Football Stadium 42,512 Sydney Australia
Wellington Regional Stadium 39,000 Wellington New Zealand
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 30,052 Melbourne Australia
Forsyth Barr Stadium 28,744 Dunedin New Zealand
Waikato Stadium 25,111 Hamilton New Zealand
Perth Rectangular Stadium 22,225 Perth  Australia
Hindmarsh Stadium 18,435 Adelaide Australia