Women's World Cup promises to be a groundbreaking event that celebrates achievements of women in soccer
FIFA record: Women's World Cup 2023 sells over 1m tickets. Twitter/FIFAWWC
The upcoming Women's World Cup, set to take place in Australia and New Zealand, is expected to break attendance records and become the most-watched standalone women's sporting event ever.
FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, announced that over one million tickets have already been sold for the tournament. This number is on track to surpass the previous attendance record set by the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada.
The tournament will feature 32 teams, making it the first Women's World Cup to be played in two host nations and the largest in terms of the number of teams. A total of 64 matches will be played, and FIFA expects the total attendance to be even higher due to the increased number of games.
FIFA has introduced a new payment structure for the players participating in the Women's World Cup. Each player will receive a minimum payment of $30,000, and the members of the winning team will receive $270,000 each. This represents a significant increase from the prize pool of $30 million paid to women players in the 2019 tournament in France.
However, there is still a notable disparity in prize money between the Women's World Cup and the men's tournament. In 2022, male players received a total of $440 million in prize money. FIFA has expressed its intention to achieve pay equity by the 2027 Women's World Cup.
The excitement for the Women's World Cup is palpable, with FIFA's president, Gianni Infantino, expressing his gratitude to the fans for their support. He described the upcoming tournament as the greatest Women's World Cup ever and highlighted the growing momentum and interest in women's football around the world.
The high demand for tickets has led to a change in venue for Australia's opening match against Ireland, which will now be held at the 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia. This adjustment will allow up to 100,000 fans to witness the tournament's opening games. The co-hosts, New Zealand, will face off against Norway in Auckland shortly before the Australia-Ireland match.
