The 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand has already welcomed more spectators than the previous edition in France, while the round of 16 has not yet started.
The 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is a success, at least from the point of attendance. Already 1.222 million spectators have come to the stands for the first phase of the competition. It’s more than in the whole competition, in France, four years ago.
It should of course be noted that this World Cup brings together 32 teams, compared to 24 in 2019, which significantly increases the number of matches (64 in total, compared to 52 previously). Thus, 48 ​​matches have already been played. But the average attendance (around 25,000 spectators) is higher than that of four years ago (21,756 per match) and to situate the passing times, Fifa communicates an increase of 29% for the group stage.
“I am confident that by the end of the final we will have more than 1.9 million fans who will have passed through the gates.FIFA women’s football manager Sarai Bareman told AFP. The tournament has been amazing so far, we have exceeded our expectations in so many ways. »
It was not won because Australia and New Zealand are not countries where football is king. Rugby, cricket and Australian rules football are generally favored by spectators. That didn’t stop 75,000 people from attending Australia-Ireland in Sydney. More surprisingly, Eden Park, temple of rugby in New Zealand, was full for Portugal-USA.
In France, no match had been played at the Stade de France or at the VĂ©lodrome. The organizers had made Groupama Stadium, OL’s stadium, the main venue for the competition, along with the Parc des Princes. Several matches had taken place in stadiums with a maximum capacity of between 18 and 24,000 spectators (Grenoble, Le Havre, Valenciennes, Reims, Montpellier).
