Women's World Cup: Fifa revises attendances in France

By Alistair MagowanBBC Sport in Le Havre
England v Scotland
During England's win over Scotland in Nice, no fans were in the top tier

Fifa says 14 of 52 Women's World Cup matches have sold out, having previously said it was 20 and claiming tickets were only available for a "few matches".

Only two of nine matches have reached capacity - France's opening win over South Korea in Paris (45,261) and Brazil's victory against Jamaica in Grenoble (17,668).

But there has been confusion after England's opener against Scotland was being billed as close to sold out, but only 13,188 fans attended.

The match was held at the 35,100-capacity Stade de Nice, meaning it was only 37% full.

As a percentage of capacity, that is the lowest figure in the tournament so far.

Fifa said prior to the tournament that 950,000 tickets had been sold, and president Gianni Infantino had claimed: "We already sold out 20 matches or so."

But on Tuesday the world governing body said that figure was now 14, and it had reached an "important milestone" as sales passed one million.

The 14 matches that had sold out include the group games of hosts France and holders the United States, plus the semi-finals and final, which are held in Lyon.

After nine games, in which all stadiums have been used except for Lyon, the average attendance has been 18,405, equating to a capacity of 63%.

But on 7 May, Fifa wrote on its Twitter account that "you can still buy tickets for a few matches".

Attendance at the 2015 World Cup in Canada reached a record level of 1.35m, at an average of 26,028, but it was the first tournament that hosted 24 teams and 52 matches.

In Germany 2011, the average attendance was 26,428, but only 16 teams took part.

Lack of local sales for England-Scotland game

For England's 2-1 win over Scotland on Sunday, there was evidence of poor local sales.

It is understood 11,323 tickets were sold to United Kingdom postcodes before the tournament, with a further 2,000 sold via the Football Association and Scottish Football Association.

Tickets were available for as little as nine euros via the Fifa website on the day of the game, but the tournament organisers do not allow fans to buy tickets at the stadium on the day.

During the game at Stade de Nice, no fans were in the top tier and other sections of the stadium were empty.

BBC Sport research also suggests there is a discrepancy between the number of seats available at stadiums - 1.59m based on capacities - and the 1.3m tickets Fifa said were on sale.

That means there could be almost 300,000 seats not for sale.

There were also reported transport problems for fans getting to and from Stade de Nice, which is outside the city centre.

Dedicated fan shuttles were either late or did not turn up, with some fans forced to get taxis costing 80 euros.