Before the World Cup, the record crowd for football match in New Zealand was 37,034 for a men’s World Cup play-off against Peru in Wellington in 2017.
Despite early concerns about ticket sales, that record has been shattered three times at Eden Park, New Zealand’s national stadium, during this tournament.
After 42,137 witnessed Hannah Wilkinson’s winner for the Football Ferns against Norway in Auckland, 42,958 turned up to see the USA held 0-0 by Portugal on 1 August. Four days later a sell-out 43,217 witnessed Spain thrash Switzerland 5-1 in the last 16 – the biggest stadium crowd for a sporting event in New Zealand this year.
Eden Park was also sold-out for the quarter-final between Japan and Sweden on 11 August and Tuesday’s semi-final.
Around 80% of the ticket sales for Eden Park have been to people living in New Zealand.
“This tournament has seen a colossal change in the way football and particularly women’s football is seen in New Zealand,” Andrew Pragnell, CEO of New Zealand Football, said.
“Football is already the biggest and the fastest growing organised team sport in the country and this tournament, as well as the numerous legacy programmes we have established, will supercharge it.”
More than 700,000 fans watched the 29 World Cup games in New Zealand, with Wellington Regional Stadium hosting nine matches.
“It seemed like a distant dream in the dark days of Covid,” Shane Harmon, CEO of Wellington Regional Stadium, said.
“Any concerns prior to the tournament about whether Kiwis would get behind this event in sufficient numbers have been firmly put to rest.”
Nick Sautner, CEO of Eden Park, which also hosted nine matches, said Kiwis had been “starved of football content” before the World Cup.
“The atmosphere at Eden Park has been electric, with colour and culture celebrated through the beautiful game,” he added.