Fans Break Attendance Records at Women’s Football World Cup
- FIFA Women’s World Cup being held in New Zealand and Australia
- Shooting in Auckland on Thursday forced fan zone to shut
New Zealand fans celebrate winning their FIFA Women's World Cup match against Norway.
Photographer: Buda Mendes/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Australia and New Zealand broke sporting attendance records Thursday, after more fans packed into the opening two matches of the Women’s World Cup than any other female sporting event in those countries.
More than 100,000 people attended the two stadiums in Sydney and Auckland, setting new all-time highs for women’s matches in both countries, despite a fatal shooting in downtown Auckland earlier that prevented organizers opening a fan zone area. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, his deputy, Carmel Sepuloni and the nation’s sports minister, Grant Robertson, were among the crowd watching as their country beat Norway.