Demand for tickets drives Matildas’ World Cup opener to 83,500-capacity Accor Stadium

The Matildas’ opening Women’s World Cup match has been moved across Sydney from the new $828m Allianz Stadium to Accor Stadium as Fifa seek to capitalise on “significant interest” in tickets for the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

A bumper opening matchday could now attract more than 100,000 fans, with Auckland to host the opening ceremony and first match between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park, before Australia kick off their Group B campaign against the Republic of Ireland later on 20 July.

Allianz Stadium, which was built at great expense and opened to the public in August last year, holds 42,500. Accor Stadium, the old Olympic stadium in the city’s inner west and the tournament’s largest venue with a capacity of 83,500, had been slated to host knockout matches only, including the final on 20 August.

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Given the popularity of the Matildas, coupled with strong interest from a sizeable expat Irish community in Sydney, early ticket sales at the smaller Moore Park venue were strong and the first allocation sold out quickly.

There had been growing support to make the switch, with Football Australia backing the move that will now give roughly another 40,000 fans an opportunity to watch Sam Kerr and her team kick off their campaign.

“It’s very exciting news,” FA CEO James Johnson said. “The move from Sydney Football Stadium to Stadium Australia is big for Australian football and highlights the confidence which we have in the Matildas to draw a huge crowd for the first match of the tournament in Australia.”

With the venue change now confirmed, attendance records could be broken at the tournament, with the previous benchmark for a women’s football match on Australian soil set in 2021, when 36,109 watched the Matildas take on USA.

A sell-out would see the Matildas enter the top five of women’s football attendances of all time (a Champions League tie between Barcelona and Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou holds the record of 91,648), and go third on the World Cup list, behind two matches at the 1999 tournament which both attracted 90,185 at the Rose Bowl.

Tickets already bought for the match at Allianz Stadium will remain valid for Accor, and those who are unable to accommodate the switch will be refunded, Fifa said.

Earlier this month, Fifa announced it had sold more than half a million tickets for the tournament with six months to go before the big kick-off – a positive start to ticket sales, although still some way off the intended target.