World Cup 2023 to be highest-attended women’s sports event ever
Reliving 1999: How Brandi Chastain’s iconic moment almost never was
We’ve all seen the iconic image of Brandi Chastain winning the 1999 Women’s World Cup. But as teammate and legendary goalkeeper Briana Scurry explains, that moment almost didn’t happen.
USA TODAY
The 2023 World Cup is on pace to be the highest-attended women’s sports event in history, FIFA said in a news release Thursday. The organization reported that 1,032,884 tickets have been sold so far. This number already surpasses the amount sold for the 2019 tournament that was held in France with more than a month until matches in Australia and New Zealand are underway.
“The future is women – and thanks to the fans for supporting what will be the greatest FIFA Women’s World Cup ever!” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in an Instagram post.
Last May, the record for largest attendance at a single match for a women’s team was broken when 91,553 fans filled Camp Nou for FC Barcelona’s UEFA Women’s Champions League match against rival Real Madrid.
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Schedule, groups, USWNT TV and streaming info
Plan accordingly: Busy summer of soccer in U.S.
The United States will seek to win its third straight World Cup with returning legends Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan alongside rising stars Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle and Trinity Rodman. Final rosters must be submitted to FIFA by July 10.
This year’s tournament also will feature the highest purse yet with a prize pool of $110 million, triple the 2019 amount. The number is still a fourth of the men’s prize pool, which was $440 million when Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar. The USWNT has fought long and hard for equal compensation with the men’s team, who has never made it out of the round of 16.
The Women’s World Cup kicks off July 20. The championship game will be held August 20.
