The Canada-New Zealand soccer match was played in a nearly empty stadium

The Canada-New Zealand soccer match was played in a nearly empty stadium
ARNAUD FINISTRE / AFP There were few spectators at the Canada-New Zealand match in Saint-Etienne on July 25, 2024.

ARNAUD FINISTRE / AFP

There were few spectators at the Canada-New Zealand match in Saint-Etienne on July 25, 2024.

PARIS OLYMPICS – Desperately empty. The women’s football group match between Canada and New Zealand, which took place this Thursday afternoon, July 25, in Saint-Étienne, did not excite the crowds and the stands were very sparse.

As you can see in the match report shared by sports journalist Asil Burhan on X, only 2,674 people were present in the stands of the stadium, which has a capacity of 42,000 seats. That is an occupancy rate of just over 6%.

The images you can see below show how empty the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, ASSE’s home ground, was. As Asil Burhan and his Canal+ colleague Daniel Marques point out, this is the first time (excluding Covid) since the Athens Olympics that a women’s tournament match had gathered so few spectators.

Drone Surveillance

The match was won by Canada 2-1. The game was marred by accusations of cheating. On Monday, a drone piloted by a member of the Canadian team flew over a New Zealand training session.

The 43-year-old national, “ tried Wednesday afternoon in a preliminary admission of guilt hearing (CRPC), accepted his sentence” eight months in prison, suspended, said the Saint-Etienne prosecutor’s office.

The Canadians will face the French on Sunday, who won their first group match against Colombia on Thursday evening (3-2).

Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr