Barcelona Femení Set Another Women’s World Record Attendance At Camp Nou

They said it could not be done again, but just three weeks after breaking the 23-year-old world record for an attendance at a women’s soccer match at Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, FC Barcelona Femení drew an even larger crowd of 91,648 to the same venue to once more create sporting history.

The European champions once more put on an exhibition of soccer, again scoring five goals in the first leg of the UEFA
EFA
Women’s Champions League semi-final against German league leaders VfL Wolfsburg.

The new figure still falls short of two crowd figures at the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup in Mexico when a reported 100,000 watched the Opening Game of the tournament which was surpassed by the estimated 110,000 who saw the final between hosts Mexico and Denmark, both games were played at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. However, as the competition did not fall within the jurisdiction of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, neither figure is considered an official world record by them.

Previously to last month, the biggest crowd for a women’s soccer match was set at the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final played between the United States and China when 90,185 spectators were at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California. Indeed, until last month, the top three attendances for women’s soccer matches, and the highest crowd for a women’s soccer match in Europe, were all set at matches involving the United States women’s national team.

With the 74,140-capacity Old Trafford in Manchester and 90,000 Wembley Stadium in London both sold-out for the Opening Match and Final of the UEFA Women’s Euro in England this summer, it is highly likely those matches will also feature in the top ten attendances of all time, further demonstrating the burgeoning growth in the popularity of women’s soccer in Europe.

After selling out the initial allocation of 85,000 tickets for their semi-final in just over 24 hours, there had been doubt if Barcelona could match the previous record attendance of 91,553 set on March 30 during a 5-2 win over Real Madrid, after the final 6,000 tickets released two days ago did not sell out. Just hours before the game, tickets in five categories were still available.

However, the fervor around the women’s team generated by selling-out Camp Nou just three weeks ago coupled with the game coming on the eve of the Festival of Sant Jordi (St. George’s Day), a public holiday in the state of Catalonia contrived to swell up the attendance figure in a stadium which was once more half-full when the game began at 1845 local time.

In the game, Ballon D’Or winner, Alexia Putellas yet again stole the headlines with a Player of the Match performance scoring the fourth and fifth goals either side of the interval. Yet by that time, Barcelona had already won the match, scoring three goals in a devastating opening half-hour spell.

On her 25th birthday, Dutch striker Jill Roord pulled one goal back for the German side, who had previously eliminated English sides, Chelsea and Arsenal, from the competition, before Putellas won and converted a late penalty to make the final score 5-1 ahead of the second leg next weekend at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg.

Barcelona have now won all 40 matches they have played this season and scored in 87 consecutive games since losing to Wolfsburg in the 2020 UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final in San Sebastián. Putellas’ two goals took her past Wolfsburg striker Tabea Waßmuth as the competition’s leading goalscorer this season with ten goals.

It remains to be seen if the match will also break the viewership figures which were set in the quarter-final against Real Madrid with an incredible 2,676,238 live views for DAZN Group, the tournament’s worldwide broadcaster, across it’s platforms and UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube channel.