After 36 matches over 14 consecutive days of football, the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ has already reached the knockout stage with many achievements to look back on. Below is a selection of key facts and figures that tell the story of the tournament’s group stage.
On Digital
433 million views on the official FIFA Women’s World Cup digital channels so far, of which 82 million were video views. Besides this, FIFA’s channels tallied:
+2 million followers
20% share of conversation on Twitter, and 1.25m new social followers focused on women’s football.
A 25% increase in interactions with the Team Reporters over the Russia 2018 World Cup.
3000 hours watched of the WWC Daily Show.
6m Likes on Facebook
On the TV screen
The FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 has been a hit with audiences around the world during the group stage. FIFA expects the competition to reach a total of 1 billion viewers across all platforms worldwide. Here are some of the high points and record-breaking figures so far:
France
10.655 million viewers (TF1 9.829 million, Canal+ 826,000) for France v. Korea Republic – a women’s football record audience in the country (previous high: 4.12 million for Germany v. France at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015)
Record average audience across all three France matches: 10.106 million viewers
Brazil
24.831 million viewers (TV Globo: 21.510 million and 45% share, BAND: 2.400 million, SporTV: 921,101) for Italy v. Brazil – a FIFA Women’s World Cup record audience in the country
Record average audience across all three Brazil matches: 22.492 million viewers (2015 group-stage average: 573,434; 2011 group-stage average: 3.388 million)
Italy
7.303 million viewers (Rai 1: 6.525 million, Sky Sport channels: 0.778 million) for Italy v. Brazil – a women’s football record audience in the country (previous high: 202,844 viewers for the Japan v. USA final at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011)
Record average audience across all three Italy matches: 4.411 million viewers (2015: no dedicated coverage; 2011: only two matches shown)
United Kingdom
4.019 million viewers on BBC1 for England v. Scotland – a record women’s football audience in the country (previous high: 2.797 million for England’s UEFA Euro 2017 semi-final against the Netherlands)
By the end of England and Scotland’s final group matches, exactly 50% of potential viewers in the UK (30.142 million people) had watched at least one minute of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019
Chile
1.274 million viewers (7.4% TVR, 39.8% share) on Chilevisión for USA v. Chile – a FIFA Women’s World Cup record audience in the country
Streaming: 959,747 video views of Chile v. Sweden made by 855,139 unique users on Chilevisión’s digital platform
USA
Overall reach of the competition on FOX, up to and including 17 June: 47.962 million
China PR
Best FIFA Women’s World Cup audience since 2007: 12.032 million viewers (2015 highest: 8.532 million; 2011 highest: 1.544 million)
On the pitch
19.81 per cent of all FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 group-stage goals were scored in the last ten minutes of the match. Of the 106 goals in the group phase, 21 were scored from the 81st minute onwards, including eight in additional time of the second half.
10.4 per cent of all group-stage goals were scored from outside the penalty area. In total, each team took an average of 9.5 shots – 3.2 of which on target – for every goal scored.
17 goals. By scoring against Italy, Brazilian superstar Marta became the first-ever player to find the back of the net in five different editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and in so doing she increased her record tally to 17 goals: more than anyone – man or woman – in the history of senior football World Cups.
13-0 was the incredible scoreline at the end of the USA v. Thailand match in Reims on 11 June: the largest margin of victory in the history of either the men’s or women’s World Cups.
348.424 kilometres is the distance covered by German players during their three matches so far, an average of 116.14km per match. They lead this statistical category collected by FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG), followed closely by Sweden and the United States.
63 per cent ball possession. The United States lead this category, right ahead of Spain and Canada. According to the TSG, players have completed 25,147 passes so far, with a success rate of 77.9 per cent.
7 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup: an appearance record that Brazilian midfielder Formiga achieved the moment she entered the pitch for A Seleção’s opening game against Jamaica. She did so at the age of 41 years and 98 days, setting yet another record as she became the competition’s all-time oldest player. More information and some little-known facts about the players taking part in France 2019 are available here.
86 yellow cards were shown over the first 36 matches, an average of 2.39 per match. Brazil is the team with the most: seven. There have been only two red cards so far, and both after a second caution: one for Nigeria and one for South Africa.
1 simulation. Of the 86 yellow cards, 77 resulted from either a reckless tackle or stopping a promising attacking opportunity. There were three instances of goalkeeper encroachment when a penalty kick was taken; one of denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity; four for unsporting behaviour; and only one for simulation.
19.75 fouls per match in the group stage. The game with the most fouls was Australia v. Italy (39), and the one with the fewest (10) was USA v. Thailand. Eighteen penalty kicks have been awarded so far, seven of which following the intervention of video assistant referees (VAR).
17 VAR reviews have been conducted so far, an average of one review per 2.12 matches. There have been 13 on-field reviews – 11 for penalty-kick incidents and two for offside situations – and four reviews for decisions that were strictly factual: one offside and three goalkeeper encroachments when a penalty kick was taken. Only one of the 17 reviews confirmed the initial decision: all 16 others resulted in a change.
Off the pitch
1,094,639 tickets allocated by 20 June. Tickets for the remaining matches still available to the general public can be purchased on www.fifa.com/tickets or at the ticket booths located at the stadiums.
70 per cent stadium occupancy, with 11 sold-out matches during the group stage. Twenty-one of the 36 group-stage matches – 58 per cent – had a total attendance of over 15,000 fans. It is worth noting that France 2019 is the first edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in its current 24-team format played with no double-headers.
182,000 football fans have headed for the second-best place in town to experience the FIFA Women’s World Cup atmosphere: the FIFA Fan Experience, which has been set up in each of the host cities for the first time in the history of the tournament, featuring a variety of games, entertainment and cultural activities. In Paris, football fans also have the chance to visit the exhibition 'The Women’s Game', presented by the FIFA World Football Museum and Hyundai, at the Jardin Nelson Mandela in Les Halles. This special showcase of women’s football history will remain on display until 7 July, with free entrance every day from 10:00 to 20:00
7,590 people from within and around the host cities have taken part in the community programme set up by the Local Organising Committee so far, whether by joining the teams at their training sessions or participating in social activities.
2,160 kids have already enjoyed the chance of walking out onto the pitch with their idols, carrying the national team flags and taking part in other activities of the FIFA Youth Programme.
60,000+ products have been sold so far at the 44 official fan shops in the nine host cities of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Products are available online at the FIFA e-store. Also, over the first 32 games, football fans consumed EUR 1,816,349 worth of food and beverage at the stadiums.
