The Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham has sold out, with organisers expecting the largest attendance ever for a standalone women’s rugby fixture.
The current record of 58,498 was also set at Twickenham, when England beat France in the 2023 Six Nations. A larger women’s rugby crowd was seen at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where 66,000 attended the opening day of the sevens competition at Stade de France.
Across the tournament as a whole, demand for tickets has been unprecedented. Out of 470,000 available across the 32 matches, 375,000 have already been sold – three times more than the last World Cup in New Zealand.
“We are very confident the final will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024,” said Gill Whitehead, chair of the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
She added: “The last time England hosted the Women’s Rugby World Cup [in 2010], the girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop [Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13,000. The prospect of the girls running out of the tunnel to the three tiers of a packed Allianz Stadium is something I never hoped or thought I would see. It is what girls’ dreams are made of.”
The rise in support has been clear in recent Red Roses fixtures, with crowds of 48,778 and 41,523 for matches against Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year. The 2021 final in Auckland, where New Zealand edged England 34-31, drew 42,579.
World Rugby also confirmed that the four semi-finalists this year will qualify automatically for the 2029 edition in Australia.
Scottish Prospects at 2025
Scotland, who ended a 12-year absence by returning to the 2022 Rugby World Cup, are aiming to make a greater impact this time around. Drawn in Pool C alongside Canada, South Africa and Japan, Bryan Easson’s squad will see a clear route to the quarter-finals if they can overcome Japan and challenge South Africa for second place in the group.
A top-two pool finish would take Scotland into the knockout stages for the first time in their history, and with semi-finalists guaranteed qualification for the 2029 World Cup, the incentive is greater than ever.
Recent form offers optimism: Scotland secured a best-ever fourth place in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations and enjoyed a record home crowd at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, evidence of the sport’s growth north of the border. Captain Rachel Malcolm has spoken about the team’s ambition to “go deeper into tournaments” and build on that momentum.
