Spain are world champions once again, ending a 16-year wait after defeating Argentina 1-0 in a dramatic FIFA World Cup final at MetLife Stadium.
The sold-out final attracted 80,663 spectators, bringing the curtain down on the biggest World Cup in history — a 104-match tournament that drew a record-breaking 6.81 million fans across the 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The attendance record had already been shattered during the group stage of the expanded 48-team competition, with 4,644,549 spectators filling stadiums across the three host nations.
Overall, the tournament achieved an impressive 99.7% stadium occupancy rate, meaning virtually every match was played in front of a full house.
On average, 65,490 spectators attended each of the 104 matches.
“You probably have read before a lot of doubts and critics, and this and that, the stadiums will be empty, and the visas will not come, the teams will not be able to play, and this and that,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. “And everything worked exactly the other way. We silenced all the critics. The power of the game, the magic of the game, took over. Soccer conquered America and America has become now a soccer country.”
With FIFA now considering expanding the tournament to 64 teams, the next World Cup could set even higher attendance records.