Fans scramble for tickets to Ireland’s sold-out World Cup opener against Australia

Ciara Lynagh set two alarms during her shift on Tuesday, April 11th, to make sure she didn’t miss out on the final batch of tickets for Ireland’s opening Women’s World Cup match against Australia in Sydney on July 20th.

Lynagh’s sister Aoife has booked to come over from Ireland to support the team’s campaign, so the pressure was on to secure tickets.

“I set two alarms, one at 11.50, one at 11.55 and we stopped everything on the farm so I could try to get the tickets,” said Lynagh, who’s doing mandatory farm work in rural Victoria to get a second year Australian working holiday visa.

The demand for tickets for the matchd in Sydney has been so high that organisers moved it from the Allianz Stadium, which holds 45,000 people, to the Accor Stadium, or Stadium Australia, which seats 83,500.

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As of last Tuesday, the game is a sell-out.

Lynagh managed to get two tickets. They’re not together, or even near each other, but she’s lucky because demand is so high that the remaining tickets were snapped up within minutes of going on sale.

Ciara and Aoife, from Galway, have always been “soccer mad” and both played for Ireland and Salthill Devon underage.

“Playing football growing up, you never saw any Irish, you never saw women on TV at all, ever, and it’s just great they’re getting so much hype now. Playing the US the other night and competing against them at that level is just unreal,” Lynagh said.

She believes Ireland’s World Cup campaign will be an inspiration for young girls at home, who, like her at that age, have dreams of playing sport at a higher level.

“I think it’ll really put it on the map. I think it’ll just inspire a lot of kids that women can be just as good as men. Selling out that stadium is just amazing. We’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

The huge demand from the home crowd to see Australia play in the opening match has driven ticket sales, but the large Irish contingent in Sydney and elsewhere in Australia will be out in force, making sure they support Ireland, whether they have a ticket or not.

Anthony Greene, from Tallaght in Dublin, also set a reminder on his phone to get tickets last week. He and his housemates all queued online only to see them all allocated to others.

They’re now scouring social media sites for resales. Since official sales closed, tickets that originally sold for between 20-50 Australia dollars (€12-30) are going for up to 350 dollars (€215) online.

Even though Greene said he wouldn’t necessarily watch the Women’s Premier Division or Women’s Super League, he thinks following the women’s national team through the World Cup is important. He says there’s a lot of momentum behind them from the Irish in Sydney.

“The women’s team are performing better than the men’s team at the minute, so it’s important to get behind them.”

Even if Greene doesn’t manage to find tickets for the game, he’ll be out supporting the team at a fan zone or a pub.

“There’s a massive Irish community here, people always get out to support”

Andrew O’Connor, originally from Dunboyne, says there’s been a “frenzy” around getting tickets, especially for Ireland’s opening game, and he ties it to women’s sport getting much more popular, the success of the Irish women’s team and also the need to turn out for a home team abroad.

“We are so far from home that the fact they are coming all the way over here, it gives us a proper chance to give our support,” he says.

O’Connor doesn’t imagine that big crowds of supporters will be able to travel from Ireland, but the team will have huge support from the Irish in Australia.

“The fact that there’s so many of us over here to give them a chance and get behind them is a big factor.”

O’Connor and 12 of his friends managed to get tickets for the opening match. With the large Irish community in Sydney, O’Connor thinks there will be a healthy crowd for both teams.

“I can’t even see this being a full Aussie crowd, I can see it being a sea of both colours.”

O’Connor also has tickets to see Ireland play Canada in Perth, about a four-hour flight from Sydney, as well as the Ireland v Nigeria game in Brisbane.

“Might as well see the country while seeing Ireland play as well,” he says.

Loretta Cosgrave, originally from Galway, is a long-term Sydneysider and Matildas fan.

“I’ve been following the Matildas for years. I went over to France in 2019 to see them. To see Ireland and Australia play is incredible,” Cosgrave says.

“The opening game is going to be massive ... so much of the Irish diaspora here are so excited for this.”

Cosgrave says there’s something special about a women’s football event that brings everyone together.

“The really amazing thing about the Women’s World Cup is that it’s so inclusive, it’s not like going to a men’s football game, it’s lots of families, dads with their daughters, and they bring the atmosphere with them.”

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Cosgrave says she hopes the huge number of tickets sold for will start attracting bigger crowds to all women’s sport.

“This World Cup will bring women’s sport to where it should be on the map,” Cosgrave says.

Although Cosgrave is a Matildas supporter, she’ll be wearing green on July 20th.

“I have to go for Ireland as they’re the underdogs in the first match. I’ll probably be sitting with 30 mates all in their Matildas jerseys but I’ll definitely be wearing my Irish jersey with pride.”