World-Record Crowd Of 91,553 Treated To Women’s Champions League Spectacle At Camp Nou

The 23-year-old official world-record attendance for a women’s soccer match was broken in Barcelona last night as a crowd of 91,553 was recorded at Camp Nou during their UEFA Women’s Champions League match against Real Madrid. The figure eclipses the mark of 90,185 set during the 1999 Women’s World Cup final played at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

Only matches at the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup, which twice drew six-figure crowds of 100,000 for the Opening Match and 110,000 for the final, have ever attracted attendances for a women’s sporting event in excess of tonight’s at Camp Nou. That tournament was organized outside of the world governing body’s (FIFA) jurisdiction by the Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF).

What is indisputable is that no women’s club match has ever come close to this figure. Barcelona had played in front of the previous club record attendance of 60,739 away to Atlético de Madrid in a Spanish League match at the Wanda Metropolitano in March 2019.

It is also a record for any women’s soccer match played in Europe beating the 80,203 figure which saw the 2012 Olympic Football Final between the United States and Japan at Wembley Stadium and a record for a women’s European club competition match also set in 2012 when 50,212 saw that year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final between Olympique Lyonnais and 1. FFC Frankfurt.

Remarkably the crowd was also the biggest at any soccer match played in Europe so far this season, with the men’s equivalent El Clásico match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, so often the high watermark in European club football, only drawing an attendance of 86,422 to Camp Nou in October.

The figure of 91,553 is vindication for the club who have gone on a relentless drive to push for the world record crowd this week. With every club member entitled to withdraw up to four tickets, only paying a small transaction fee, there were fears many people would not show up considering the two-goal advantage Barcelona had going into the game, the inclement weather in the city and the early kick-off time of 6.45 pm considering many people in Spain work until 7 pm.

Speaking on the radio on Monday, Club President Joan Laporta urged all fans who had obtained a ticket to attend. Full-page ads were run in the popular Catalan daily newspapers with the slogan “let’s break the world record”. A gigantic banner of their star player, Ballon D’Or winner Alexia Putellas, was put up on the side of Camp Nou looking over one of the city’s main thoroughfares and a mural of Putellas dressed as Superwoman was unveiled in one of Barcelona’s squares.

At kick-off, barely half of the 99,354 seats in the stadium were occupied but with crowds still outside, the ground filled up during the game to the point where the record seemed possible. The crescendo of celebration when the figure was announced on the gigantic video screens was defeaning.

Leading 3-1 from the first leg last week in Madrid, Barcelona scored early, went behind but responded with four goals that send the crowd into raptures and guaranteed them an 8-2 aggregate victory and a place in the semi-finals. The club have also mooted staging the first leg of that game at Camp Nou on what could be Sant Jordi (St. George’s) Day, a national holiday in Catalonia so setting another attendance record is not out of the question but with the men’s team playing at home on April 24, it seems unlikely.

The next step for the club will be to translate that colossal figure into higher attendances at their regular home stadium, the 6,000 capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff, where they previously averaged crowds of around 3,000. Last night’s figure catapulted the club’s average attendance for the season to 7,959, more than Estadi Johan Cruyff can accommodate. How many fans the club draw on Saturday at home to Villarreal in the Spanish league, a competition in which they have already secured the title, will be keenly scrutinized.

Aitana Bonmatí who scored the decisive equalizing goal admitted, “it’s inexplicable to score a goal in the stadium where I dreamed of playing since I was a child. We’ve recently been through some wonderful experiences, especially winning the UEFA Champions League but maybe this was more special. A full Camp Nou and making history – immense.”

Putellas, who before the match played down the significance of the change in venue insisting the dimensions of the pitch at Camp Nou was exactly the same as at Estadi Johan Cruyff, said afterwards “I’m almost speechless, honestly. This has been utterly magical. When the match finished, the fans simply didn’t want to go home. There was such a connection between them and us while we celebrated.”

Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez added, “I told my players before the match that it simply wasn’t enough to qualify tonight. We had to put on a show for our fans – and we did.”