June 22 – FIFA says Women’s World Cup co-hosts New Zealand need to up their game over ticket sales in the coming weeks.
FIFA’s chief women’s football officer, Sarai Bareman, says she has fewer concerns about Australia where a record crowd of more than 40,000 are expected for the Matildas’ World Cup warmup match against France in Melbourne on July 14.
More than one million tickets have been sold for the July 20-August 20 tournament, putting it on track to become the most attended, stand-alone women’s sporting event ever.
But New Zealand, which is hosting 29 of the 64 matches, are reported to be struggling to sell tickets for games not involving their own team.
New Zealand’s women have been on a 10-match winless streak dating back to 2022 and may struggle to reach the World Cup’s knock-out rounds.
While the home team are expecting big crowds for their group matches, with Auckland’s Eden Park tipped for a sell-out for the opener against Norway, other games staged in the country face generating less interest.
“I have to say my focus is a little bit more on New Zealand as we don’t have the luxury of the Matildas here,” said Bareman.
“In Australia, they are the darlings of the country. Sam Kerr is an absolute superstar and the whole country is in love with football because of the Matildas.
“There’s that selling power that the Matildas have that we don’t quite have here yet in New Zealand with the Football Ferns. So there’s a bit more of a lift to do in the coming weeks.”
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