This women's World Cup tournament will set all sorts of new records for the game

WHAT an opening week for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

The tournament kicked off with a bang last Wednesday with both hosts drawing the biggest women’s football attendances ever in Australia and New Zealand. 

In a thrilling opening fixture for the Irish they went down 1-0 to the experienced and popular Matildas in front of 75,784 in a hopping Stadium Australia in Sydney. 

The previous Australian record of 50,629 had literally only been held for a wet week, set at a friendly versus France the week before.

New Zealand had their own success stories in the stands and on the field. Again, a home attendance record was broken with 42,137 turning out to Auckland’s Eden Park, despite the tragic news of a shooting carried out that morning in the city. 

The players felt urged to bring positive news to their city and country and they did just that by beating previous winners Norway by one goal to nil and recording the first ever victory for a New Zealand side at a soccer world cup. 

It had been a long time coming for Football Ferns’ captain Ali Riley, who first represented New Zealand at a world cup 12 years ago.

With attendance records in women’s sports being continuously smashed you might be forgiven for wondering will we see the biggest crowd at a women’s sporting event ever in this tournament. 

Although the record for the highest attended event overall looks to be set, it won’t be for a standalone fixture. Stadium Australia, where the final is due to be held, can only hold up to 83,500 fans. 

The highest attended women’s sporting event was the female version of El Clásico between Madrid and Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League match at Camp Nou in 2022, with 91,553 in attendance.

The previous record had been held for 23 years when the USA took on China in Pasadena, California in the 1999 World Cup Final. 

The game at Rose Bowl ended in a 0-0 draw and with an iconic save from goalkeeper Briana Scurry on China’s third attempt, 90,185 fans watched on as the USA won their second World Cup title, this time on home soil.

The USWNT, as they are known, have a fascinating history, and since their record breaking final in 1999, they have gone on to win two more World Cups and are among the favourites for the tournament this time round too. 

They sued their federation on the grounds that despite bigger success and attendance, they were still being paid less than their male counterparts. 

They were awarded $24 million in compensation and have since agreed equal pay and bonuses. Interestingly, if they win this tournament they will split their winnings with the men’s team.

USNWT aren’t the only team that brings an interesting story with them to the tournament. 

The France and Jamaica game from the weekend was an intriguing match-up. France are also among the favourites coming into this tournament but struggled to prove why on Sunday last. 

Although they have reached four finals they have never won the title. They come into this tournament a very troubled squad with a new coach that is desperate to make the most of their immense talent. 

The former men’s coach Hervé Renard has called back players who had already marched out of the squad under the previous management. 

Renard left a coaching role in Saudi Arabia which was paying him at least 20 times as much as his current position to come back to coach his home side, even though he had never coached women before.

They might have felt they would get a comfortable start to this year’s world cup coming up against Jamaica. 

The “Reggae Girlz” are still recovering from years of inactivity in the 2010s when it was decided by their federation to pull the plug on their national team altogether. 

In 2014 Cedella Marley, daughter of notorious reggae singer Bob, launched a fundraising and publicity appeal for the team and they began to get back on track. 

Although they conceded the second highest number of goals at the last world cup, they assure the world they are not just here to make up numbers this time. Opening their account by keeping France scoreless is certainly a good start.

Ireland women play their second game of the tournament today against Canada, with kick off at 1pm. 

With their own rollercoaster journey to get to their first world cup tournament ever Ireland are enjoying the role of being underdogs for now. 

They will be disappointed not to have converted their opportunities versus Australia, but should be very proud of their efforts to keep the Matildas to just a one goal lead. 

Can they go one better today and get some points on the board?

I hope so.

COYGIG