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The 2023 Women’s World Cup hasn’t even progressed through group play, but FIFA is already projecting higher attendance numbers than expected for the tournament.
Ticket sales are now close to 1.6 million, according to soccer’s governing body, which would easily surpass the record 1.35 million fans who attended the 2015 WWC in Canada. FIFA had been expecting to break that record, but its latest projections were around 1.5 million.
The USWNT has enjoyed packed houses for its first two games in New Zealand and now returns to Auckland for a potential must-win game against Portugal to secure first place in Group E over the Netherlands.
The Americans and Dutch drew 1-1 earlier this week on Fox in the most-watched group-stage game ever on English-language television with 6.429 million viewers.
New Zealand has been able to draw strong crowds of 42,000 and 32,000, despite concerns over the lack of overall interest in attending matches in the country. The Kiwis are surprisingly in second place in their group, while fellow co-host Australia will likely need a win over Canada on Monday to advance to the knockout round.
Infantino’s Missing Presence
As FIFA continues to fend off negative publicity, president Gianni Infantino has not been as present at this Women’s World Cup as he was in Qatar for the men’s event last year, according to Sky News.
Infantino reportedly left the tournament less than a week after it began, thus far attending a few matches in New Zealand and none in Australia.
