The Women’s Rugby World Cup is poised to make history before a single ball is kicked. Organizers have announced that the final at Twickenham has officially sold out, with the 82,000-capacity stadium set to host the largest crowd ever for a standalone women’s rugby match.
The historic sell-out is a powerful testament to the surging popularity of the women’s game. It will comfortably surpass the previous record of 58,498, set when England defeated France at the same venue during the 2023 Six Nations. The crowd is also expected to eclipse the 66,000 spectators who attended the opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“We are very confident the final will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024,” said Gill Whitehead, chair of the 2025 Rugby World Cup. “The prospect of the girls running out of the tunnel to the three tiers of a packed Allianz Stadium is something I never hoped or thought I would see. It is what girls’ dreams are made of.”
The unprecedented demand extends across the entire tournament. Of the 470,000 available tickets for the 32-match event, 375,000 have already been sold, a figure that is three times the total sales from the last World Cup in New Zealand.
The tournament kicks off on Friday, August 22, with a highly anticipated opening match between England and the United States at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. The host nation’s recent success has drawn massive crowds, with 48,778 attending their win over Ireland last year and 41,523 for their clash with New Zealand.
In a further boost to the sport, World Rugby has also confirmed that the four semi-finalists from this tournament will automatically qualify for the 2029 edition in Australia, providing an added incentive for the world’s top teams.
