FIFA Women's World Cup creates history, sets crowd records in New Zealand
SF 1, where Spain beat Sweden 2-1 in Auckland, New Zealand, was watched by a sellout crowd .
The Women's World Cup gave the sport a huge boost in co-hosts New Zealand where new attendance records were set, the head of the country's football governing body said. Spain's thrilling 2-1 semi-final victory over Sweden on Tuesday was watched by a sellout crowd of 43,217 at Auckland's Eden Park -- equalling the highest attendance for a men's or women's match in New Zealand.
With the remaining Women's World Cup games taking place in Australia, football officials reported more than 700,000 fans attended the 29 matches staged in New Zealand. "This tournament has seen a colossal change in the way football, and particularly women's football, is seen in New Zealand," said Andrew Pragnell, chief executive of New Zealand Football.
The attendance record was first broken on the opening day of the tournament when 42,137 saw New Zealand beat Norway in Auckland.It was surpassed when Spain's last-16 win over Switzerland and Sweden's quarter-final victory over Japan both drew capacity crowds of 43,217 to Eden Park, a figure matched at Tuesday's semi-final.
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"From the historic opening game at Eden Park which saw the Football Ferns beat Norway, this tournament has set a new standard for the FIFA Women’s World Cup," said Pragnell. The country also hosted women's cricket and rugby World Cups in 2022 proving, Pragnell said, that New Zealand can "deliver world-class major events".
The second semi-final will take place on Wednesday (August 16) between arch-rivals England and Australia in Sydney, Australia. Before the clash, Aussie coachTony Gustavsson stated of expecting a close match but is banking on the crowd support."If you look at rankings they're favourites, if you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs in top leagues all over the world," Gustavsson told reporters on Tuesday.
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He added, "Not just the starting 11, down to 15, 16. We have bench players in those teams. We have players playing in mid-table teams in Sweden. So if you look at all that and you look at resources, financially, obviously they are massive favourites going into this game. But the one thing that we have that they don't have is the support and belief from the fans. That in itself is going to be massive tomorrow."