As the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ concluded with a thrilling final showdown between Spain and England at Stadium Australia on Sunday night, and Spain being crowned Champions, Football Australia proudly celebrates hosting the most successful and transformative edition of the tournament to date.
A record-breaking crowd of over 75,000 spectators attended the final, marking the fifth time the iconic stadium reached maximum capacity during the tournament.
After an extraordinary, record-breaking month of football in two countries, 10 Stadiums and nine welcoming host cities, a new FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winner was crowned at Stadium Australia, which saw a fitting closing to a scintillating tournament.
FIFA President, Gianni Infantino hailed the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand™ transformational after USD $570 million in revenue was generated, allowing the tournament to break even for the first time.
This iteration marked the first time 32 countries took part in a FIFA Women’s World Cup™, with previous editions only featuring 24 teams. Six different confederations were represented.
James Johnson, Football Australia CEO, remarked, “Australia’s passion for football has never been clearer. The record attendances, viewership numbers, and the extraordinary atmosphere throughout this tournament showcase how deeply our nation loves this game.”
“We understood the transformational power of the tournament and have worked tirelessly since we were granted hosting rights to use this moment to springboard Australian football into a new future, with women’s football leading the way for the game.
“By every measure, the tournament has been a resounding success and the biggest and best ever edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. On behalf of Australian football, we would like to thank FIFA, our co-host Football New Zealand, the participating Nations and the thousands of volunteers across the country who contributed to the success the tournament.
“We would like to thank Sam Kerr and the CommBank Matildas playing squad, Tony Gustavsson and his coaching staff and all other backroom staff for producing our best ever result at a FIFA Women’s World Cup. Fourth in the world is a phenomenal achievement and we are extremely proud of the team.
“The Australian sporting landscape will never be the same because the CommBank Matildas have changed things forever,” concluded Johnson.
Key Highlights from the Tournament:
A new champion emerged with Spain joining the elite group of FIFA Women’s World Cup™ winners.
Australia’s own CommBank Matildas have done the nation proud. Their journey through the tournament captivated the nation with matches rating an average of 3.44 million per match. The aggregate viewership for their 7 fixtures stands at a staggering 24.08m.
- AUS v ENG: 7.13m
- AUS v FRA: 4.17m
- AUS v DEN: 3.56m
- AUS v SWE: 3.38m
- AUS v CAN: 2.42m
- AUS v IRE: 1.93m
- AUS v NIG: 1.49m
Australia is only the second team to host a FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and finish in the top four after the USA (winners in 1999, third place in 2003).
An astonishing 164 goals were scored, surpassing all previous records.
The tournament saw a spike in fan engagement, with almost 2 million fans attending matches, 500,000 over initial targets and projections. 747,000 visitors at FIFA Fan Festivals. Stadiums have been full at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, with Stadium occupancy of over 84% across Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s matches in its seven matches during the tournament attracted 403,136 fans with an average of 57,591 for each match reaching 99.92% of capacity at each venue.
In broadcast, Australia’s semi-final match against England broke records with 7.13 million viewers and a national reach of 11.15 million on Seven’s platforms, marking the most-watched television programme since 2001.
Seven’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ reached 18.6 million broadcast viewers with an additional 3.82 million on 7plus. Sunday’s final between Spain and England reached 5.54 million and averaged 3.08 million.
Optus Sport, the tournament’s host broadcaster, has seen social media views of FIFA Women’s World Cup™ content of over 75 million. Average viewing time of content by each Optus Sport subscriber was over 21 hours and page views of content articles reached 5.5 million in the last five weeks.
On the digital frontier, FIFA’s platforms witnessed a 130% increase in visitors compared to the 2019 edition, with over 3 billion content views.
CommBank Matildas’ digital platforms saw record reach and engagement also.
- Social media impressions over 320 million
- Social media video views over 112 million
- Over 1.8 million people visited www.matildas.com.au in last six weeks
- During a period of six weeks the Football Australia on-line store saw merchandise sales numbers that compared to sales achieved throughout the whole of Financial Year 22/23
- Cumulatively from the squad announcement at the beginning of July, CommBank Matildas social channels grew by 133% from 590,868 followers across all social platforms to 1.38 million (across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok)
- The CommBank Matildas’ Instagram page grew by 344% representing an increase of 490,000 followers during the campaign with over 100,000 followers gained on Instagram on the night we qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ Semi Final
- The CommBank Matildas’ Tik Tok channel was the biggest platform for video views
In other memorable milestones, Morocco defender Nouhaila Benzina created a slice of FIFA Women’s World Cup™ history during the tournament, when she became the first senior-level player ever to wear a hijab during a game at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™. Korea Republic’s Casey Phair (16y 26d) became the youngest player to make an appearance in FIFA Women’s World Cup™ history at this tournament.
Johnson added, “Beyond the impressive numbers, what stands out is the spirit of unity, inclusion, and celebration. It’s a testament to the power of sport, especially football, in bringing people together.”
This FIFA Women’s World Cup™ has not only been about showcasing top-tier football but also about giving back to the community, as highlighted by FIFA’s contribution to plant 30,000 trees in each Host City.
Football Australia extends their congratulations to Spain, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ Champions and its gratitude to all the fans, teams, and partners who made this event historical. As the world celebrates the crowning of the new champion, the legacy of this tournament will live on for years to come.
More statistics on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ can be found HERE.
