2 million fans turn up in Australia for ultimate thrill of Women’s World Cup final

Fans began arriving for the final of the Women's World Cup between England and Spain on Sunday, capping off a tournament that has broken attendance and TV records and raised hopes of a surge in interest for the women's game.

Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the ninth edition of the global showpiece event was the first to be held in the southern hemisphere and has already broken attendance records.

While local interest ebbed when Australia exited in the semi-finals, some 2 million fans will have passed through the gates in nine host cities by the time Sunday's final kicks off at 8pm (1000 GMT) or 2pm UAE time.

Thousands of fans were already milling around Stadium Australia in Sydney hours before kick-off on Sunday, with troupes of drummers and stilt walkers creating a festival atmosphere.

Australia's semi-final loss to England on Wednesday drew an average of 7.13 million viewers on the channels of local broadcaster Seven Network, the highest viewership ever recorded by research firm OzTAM, which launched in 2001.

Spain's fans wait for the start of the final of Women's World Cup soccer between Spain and England in Sydney. AP

Matildas matches sold out months in advance, and organisers expect the average attendance to overtake 30,000 once all 64 matches are completed.

The last Women's World Cup in France four years ago attracted more than 1.1. million fans to 52 matches with an average crowd of 21,756.

Demand was weaker in New Zealand, whose team went out in the group stages. FIFA gave away thousands of tickets and some games attracted as few as 7,000 fans, although White Ferns matches broke records for a soccer crowd in the country.

Fans pose ahead of the match. AFP

Australia's players, who lost 2-0 in a third-place playoff match to Sweden on Saturday, will earn $165,000 each in prize money for this tournament, more than 300 times the A$750 ($480) they received for a quarter-final appearance in 2015.

But at the grassroots level, the sport needs more resources, Matildas striker Sam Kerr said after the loss to England on Wednesday.

"We need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots," she said.

"We need funding, you know, we need funding everywhere."

Fans of England cheer prior to the Women's World Cup soccer final match. Associated Press

The Matildas' standout World Cup campaign has led to calls for more support to women's soccer in Australia, where it lags more popular football codes like rugby league and Australian rules.

The Spanish team, meanwhile, has been rocked by a locker room dispute with coach Jorge Vilda and the Spanish football federation, with some of their best players absent from the tournament as a result.

Reuters