With the group stage still going strong, FIFA has already set an all-time World Cup attendance record, and Philadelphia has been a major part of that.
Following Thursday’s slate of group stage games, FIFA announced that 3,605,357 fans had attended matches in this year’s expanded tournament of 48 nations vying for the top prize in the July 19 final.
The mark passed FIFA’s previous mark of 3,587,538 fans set in 1994, the last time the World Cup came to the United States.
Philly’s place in all of it hasn’t gone unnoticed as the mark was set during the city’s fourth match on Thursday between the Ivory Coast and Curaçao, which had an announced attendance of 68,324. Across the four matches, Lincoln Financial Field, renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup, has welcomed 273,296 fans — approximately 7.6% of the total.
“This was incredible, the whole experience is a memory,” said Mustafa Al-Hasani, a fan from Iowa who attended Monday’s rain-delayed Group I match between France and Iraq. Despite the rain, Al-Hasani lauded both the stadium and the city’s hospitality. “Philly’s great, I’ve been here before, but this is an experience I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
FIFA’s attendance record being surpassed was an inevitability, given that this tournament field expanded from 32. FIFA’s increase in the number of nations means more matches and venues. For this World Cup, 104 games are being played in 16 stadiums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico over the monthlong event.
However, with it being just 14 days into the tournament, this also sets the standard going forward for FIFA reaching an attendance record.
According to FIFA, stadium capacities have been at an all-time high; here in Philadelphia, attendance at all four matches has been an announced 68,324, which is capacity at the Linc.
That’s a remarkable number when you consider that, with FIFA enacting a dynamic pricing model for the first time in a World Cup, ticket prices have never been higher, including some seats listed in the thousands of dollars in the lower-level seating of stadiums.
Philadelphia has just two more matches. Croatia and Ghana play in Group L on Saturday (5 p.m., FS1), and then on July 4 the city will host a Round of 16 game, between the winners of two games in the Round of 32.
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