The opening night (day time in Nigeria ans most parts of Africa and Europe) of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on Thursday is set to break attendance records in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand for women’s football as the tournament continues to reach new milestones.

The opening match in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau between the Football Ferns and Norway is likely to surpass the host nation’s previous biggest crowd for an international football match (37,000), set when the All Whites played Peru in 2017. It is also expected to more than treble the largest crowd ever for the Football Ferns, which came in January this year when 12,721 fans turned out to see Jitka Klimková’s side challenge the USA.

Meanwhile, Australian fans will also beat their record crowd for a women’s football match, which was set only a few days ago when 50,629 fans attended the Matildas warm-up match against France in Melbourne/Naarm.

This record figure is expected to be substantially surpassed when Australia kicks off their campaign against the Republic of Ireland at the 75,784-seater Stadium Australia in Sydney/Wangal.

“It will be an epic opening night with over 100,000 fans attending a women’s football match at the first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup held in the southern hemisphere,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer.

She continued: “It will set the tone for a FIFA Women’s World Cup that I expect to become a watershed moment in global women’s sports – not only from an attendance perspective, but way beyond that, when it comes to developing the game globally and celebrating female empowerment.”

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ in Canada was attended by 1,353,506 spectators, but a few days out from the opening match the ticket sales for this year’s tournament have now surpassed that figure, with close to 1.4 million tickets now sold.

The spread of those tickets also affirms the increased global nature of women’s football, as fans residing in a staggering 182 different countries have purchased their tickets and are planning to head down under.

Aside from the two hosts, the top ten countries for ticket sales are the USA, England, Qatar, China PR, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Canada and Nigeria. “Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are not close to many of the countries competing in the tournament, but it is wonderful to see that people have decided to travel from every corner of the globe to be part of this celebration of women’s football,” added Bareman.

Whatever seat you have purchased, Bareman reminds all fans to download the official FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ mobile ticketing app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store to access their tickets.

“It is important that fans get the app on their phone as the tickets cannot be printed or downloaded. You need to present the ticket on your mobile phone to enter the stadium, so make sure your phone is fully charged.

Like a player that prepares for a big match, we count on fans to get ready ahead of going to the stadium and familiarise themselves with the ticketing app, the transportation options, and the prohibited items list – besides supporting their team, this is another great way to contribute to the spectacle.”

Fans who may need assistance with the app or accessing their tickets are advised to look for the spectator services volunteers at the stadium. If a ticket holder has bought tickets for friends or family, those can be shared in advance, so they have it on their own mobile phones.

Many overseas visitors, as well as local fans, have also decided to enjoy the matches in style and have accessed the variety of hospitality options available, from a single corporate seat to a private suite.

In that case, tickets are sent to the spectators in PDF and must be printed at home.

While tickets for some matches may be currently unavailable, fans should monitor FIFA.com/tickets for last-minute offers, as well as head to FIFA.com/hospitality for an enhanced experience.