Long considered the pinnacle of both football and sport in general, the World Cup continues to be so today. It follows that it is no surprise that it often attracts the interest of the viewing audience.
The competition’s top games in terms of attendance are shown below.
1. 1982; Argentina 0–1–Belgium; 95,500
Argentina’s first World Cup match versus Belgium, played in Barcelona’s Nou Camp Stadium, kicks off the top five. After transferring from Boca Juniors in his own nation, Diego Maradona was chosen to Argentina starting lineup. He was playing in his new country of residency. He and Argentina did not do well in the first match, shockingly losing 1-0 to Belgium. Erwin Vandenbergh scored the key goal just after the hour mark. In the end, both teams were eliminated at the second group round.
2. West Germany 4-2 England in 1966; 98,270 spectators
It requires no explanation that the 1966 World Cup final is still the pinnacle of English footballing history. A final that was seen by around 100,000 spectators inside the old Wembley Stadium will always be associated with Sir Geoff Hurst. West Germany took an early lead thanks to Helmut Haller, but Hurst quickly tied the score. Before Hurst scored two more goals in extra time to lead England to win, Martin Peters and Wolfgang Weber swapped goals. Kenneth Wolstenholme‘s observation that “they believe it’s all over” is one of the most famous quotes in football commentary history.
3, 1970; Mexico 1-0 Belgium; 108,192
Another game featuring Belgium, this one taking place twelve years before their victory over Argentina. The 1970 World Cup was being held in Mexico, and the nation’s supporters lost no time in gathering to see their team play. Mexico needed to win in order to proceed to the knockout rounds, hence the game took place in the Estadio Azteca. After 14 minutes, defender Gustavo Pena converted a penalty kick to score the game’s lone goal. However, their campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals as they were defeated 4-1 by eventual runners-up Italy.
4. Mexico defeated Paraguay 1-0 in 1986; 114,600
Nearly 115,000 people attended the 1-1 tie between Mexico and Paraguay at the Estadio Azteca, which was the second time Mexico hosted the tournament in as many as sixteen years. Despite taking the lead after three minutes thanks to a Luis Flores goal, they were forced to settle for a draw with Paraguay this time. Through Julio Cesar Romero’s goal, Paraguay was able to mend relations. With two world cup victories and a tie, Mexico won the group and defeated Bulgaria in the round of 16. West Germany won a penalty shootout, however, proving to be too powerful from 12 yards in the quarterfinals.
5. Uruguay – 1950 – 173,850 1 Brazil 1-2
The 1950 World Cup final between Brazil and Uruguay drew a huge audience to the Maracana.
Due to World War II, there was no World Cup in the 1940s, hence the match took 12 years to prepare for. Brazil reached the final for the first time as well, and they wanted to triumph in front of their home supporters. But even though they had to earn it the hard way, Uruguay, who had won the initial World Cup 20 years before, returned home with the trophy this time. Two minutes into the second half, Friaca gave Brazil the lead, but goals from Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia helped Uruguay come back to win, much to the dismay of the majority of the spectators.
Any illegal use, distribution, or duplication of the content is forbidden and may be against the law. The text is Copyright © 2017-2022 Rookie Road Inc. Use only with permission. Unquestionably, the World Cup is the biggest football event in the globe. Every four years, supporters from all around the globe go to the host nation to show their support. FIFA sold almost 800,000 tickets during the first round of FIFA 2022 World Cup ticket sales. Indians ranked eighth among the top nations for fans who applied for the most tickets. It will be impossible to fit everyone into the stadiums in Qatar, therefore it will be interesting to see whether a new record for total attendance can be broken.
With 173,850 registered spectators, the 1950 World Cup final between Brazil and Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium still holds the record for the most spectators at a World Cup game. However, there have been two additional events when the attendance total exceeded 100,000. Additionally, both of them took occurred in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico when the home team was playing. You now have a list of some of the biggest football crowds in FIFA world cup history. Barcelona intends to increase the Nou Camp’s capacity to over 105,000 seats as part of its expansion plans. As a result, 100,000+ spectators will be able to watch games starting in the middle of the 2020s.
Most stadium capacities have been considerably reduced during the last 30 to 40 years, so it’s unlikely that this will happen in our lifetime. There are presently very few stadiums that can hold more than 100,000 people, with North Korea’s Rungrado 1st of May Stadium having the biggest capacity at 114,000. We are thus unlikely to surpass the Maracana’s record, even if North Korea were to win the World Cup. The most recent record-breaking crowd size was established on August 2, 2014, during a match between Man United and Real Madrid for the International Champions Cup in America. Man Utd won the match 3-1 in front of a sell-out crowd of 109,318 at Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan.
Conclusion
The previous record of 101,799 has been surpassed, setting a new record for football attendance in the United States. This was established during the 1984 Olympic Football Final between France and Brazil in the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. France won 2-0. It’s interesting to note that the record was broken twice in a 24-hour period since the third-place play-off match the day before received (at the time) a record of 100,374.
