LONDON (AP) — England’s women’s soccer team is continuing to generate unprecedented fan interest following its European Championship victory, with 65,000 tickets sold in less than 24 hours for its planned game against the United States at Wembley Stadium in October.
The game pitting the European champion against the reigning world champion was announced on Tuesday by England’s Football Association and will be played Oct. 7, subject to England having secured World Cup qualification in September.
The Lionesses’ official Twitter account on Wednesday said: “YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. 65,000 tickets have already been sold for our October international against the United States!”
The ticketing website briefly crashed on Tuesday amid the huge demand.
It comes after a crowd of 87,192 — the biggest-ever attendance for a European Championship match, men’s or women’s — saw the Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 after extra time at Wembley on Sunday as England’s women’s team secured its first major trophy.
Sarina Wiegman’s team will play World Cup qualifiers against Austria away on Sept. 3 and then Luxembourg at Stoke’s stadium three days later. Ticket sales for the latter fixture had reached 20,000 by midday on Tuesday.
England currently tops its World Cup qualifying group with a maximum 24 points from eight matches and would seal qualification for next year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand with a draw against second-place Austria or a win against Luxembourg.
If England has to play in the World Cup playoffs in October, anyone with a ticket for the U.S. game would be entitled to a refund, the FA said.
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