As the host nations and tournament organisers bask in the warm afterglow of the wildly successful Fifa Women’s World Cup, it’s easy to forget that anxiety permeated the build-up.
There was the stand-off over broadcasting rights for five Western European countries accounting for 35% of the anticipated global audience. The brinksmanship continued until the 11th hour, prompting government intervention.
There was uncertainty over whether Kiwis would take an interest in, let alone embrace, the event. A month out, Fifa’s head of women’s football, New Zealander Sarai Bareman, admitted sluggish ticket sales were a concern. A week out, Fifa announced it would hand out 5000 free tickets in each of the four New Zealand host cities. At that stage, only six of our allocated 29 games were fully or nearly sold out.
Talk about being all right on the night. A 43,217-strong crowd, the largest ever for a football match in this country, rolled up at Eden Park to see the Football Ferns get the tournament off to a promoter’s dream start by beating 1995 world champions Norway. Hitherto, our men’s and women’s combined record at World Cups was played 22, won zero. An even more positive indicator of public engagement was that 30,000 turned out the following Monday to
