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Record crowd expected as World Cup final sells out

Record crowd expected as World Cup final sells out

BBC News6 hours ago
Women's Rugby World Cup: England v United StatesVenue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday 22 August Kick-off: 19:30 BSTCoverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport website and app.
The Women's Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham has sold out making it likely to be the biggest ever crowd for a one-off women's rugby match.The current record was also set at Twickenham's 82,000 capacity Allianz Stadium when 58,498 watched England beat France in the 2023 Six Nations.At Paris 2024, 66,000 watched the opening day of the women's rugby sevens at Stade de France.Across the 32-match tournament, which starts on Friday 22 August, 375,000 of the 470,000 tickets have already been sold, three times the number sold at the last World Cup in New Zealand."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 last time England hosted the Women's Rugby World Cup [in 2010], the girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop [Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13,000. "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."Recent Red Roses matches have pulled in large numbers of supporters. Crowds of 48,778 and 41,523 attended England wins over Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year.The 2021 Rugby World Cup final, where England narrowly lost to New Zealand 34-31, was played in front of 42,579 at Eden Park.World Rugby also confirmed on Tuesday that this World Cup's four semi-finalists will automatically qualify for the 2029 edition, joining hosts Australia.
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