The Women’s Rugby World Cup final on September 27 is expected to draw the largest crowd ever for a women’s rugby union match after tickets for Twickenham Stadium sold out.
Organizers confirmed that the 82,000-seat venue will be at full capacity for the tournament’s closing match in London. The attendance figure will surpass the current record for a women’s 15-a-side rugby fixture of 58,948, set at Twickenham during England’s Six Nations clash with France in 2023.
It will also exceed the women’s rugby overall attendance record of around 66,000, established during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games rugby sevens competition at Stade de France.
Women’s Rugby World Cup Chair Gill Whitehead said the sellout highlights the rapid growth of the sport.
“The final we are very confident will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris 2024,” she told reporters. “I can confirm the final at Allianz Stadium will be sold out. The last time England hosted the Women’s Rugby World Cup [in 2010], the girls played at the Stoop around the corner to a crowd of 13,000.”
More than 375,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament overall, triple the number sold for the 2021 edition in New Zealand.
The competition begins August 22 and will be staged across eight venues in England. Organizers noted that 90 percent of the population lives within two hours of one of the host stadiums.
Tournament managing director Sarah Massey said the response has already surpassed expectations. “We’re ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement,” Whitehead said. “This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women’s rugby that we have ever seen. We’ve now sold 375,000 tickets across all those matches, surpassing all our initial ticket targets.”
