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Wembley Stadium record attendance: Football, concerts, boxing & more

Since opening in 2007, Wembley Stadium has been used as a multi-purpose arena for various sporting and entertainment events.

The stadium has long been dubbed “the home of English football,” with the England national team playing the majority of their fixtures there.

However, boxing bouts, concerts, and wrestling events have also been hosted at the famous stadium.

The Wembley record attendance at the old Wembley Stadium, which closed down for good in 2000, was 126,047 for the 1923 FA Cup final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.

The new Wembley Stadium has a capacity of 90,000, which means that the newer version of the stadium will never be able to break this 101-year record.

Despite that, the stadium has seen impressive attendance figures since it first opened.

Here are Wembley's highest attendances for each event type it has hosted.

Wembley record attendance
Wembley Stadium has a capacity of 90,000 – Photo by Icon Sport

Wembley Stadium record attendance – by event

Football – 89,874: FA Cup Final, 2008 – Cardiff City vs Portsmouth

The Wembley Stadium record attendance for a football match came in the 2008 FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City. The final was the second FA Cup final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium with the first final in 2007 between Man Utd and Chelsea bringing in 89,826 supporters.

There have been higher-profile football matches played at Wembley Stadium since then, but none have yet brought in more supporters than Cardiff City and Portsmouth did. Perhaps the fact the match wasn't played between two big rivals made policing the match easier, which resulted in fewer seats being taken up by segregation.

NFL – 86,215: Denver Broncos vs Jacksonville Jaguars, 2022

In 2007, the New York Giants played the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium in the first-ever NFL London match. The NFL has returned to London each year since, and interest in the sport has continued to grow in the UK.

In 2022, the Denver Broncos faced the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley in front of 86,215 supporters. It was the biggest turnout for an NFL match in London at the time, and no matches since have managed to top it.

Could Wembley Stadium's record attendance for the NFL be broken when the Jacksonville Jaguars return to Wembley in 2024?

Denver vs Jacksonville 2022
Denver vs Jacksonville in 2022 holds the Wembley attendance record for an NFL match – Photo by Icon Sport

Concerts – 98,000: Adele, 2017

Countless concerts have taken place at Wembley Stadium since it opened in 2007, with the likes of Ed Sheeran, One Direction and Taylor Swift all playing at the home of football. However, no one has managed to pack Wembley Stadium as well as Adele, who sang to 98,000 fans in 2017.

Concerts can break the 90,000 capacity at Wembley because standing tickets are available at pitch level, so this record could be easily broken in the future. Could 100,000 fans squeeze in at some point?

Boxing – 96,000: Daniel Dubois vs Anthony Joshua, 20224

Boxing first made it to Wembley Stadium when George Groves and Carl Froch met in a British grudge match in 2014. Froch has famously bragged about fighting “in front of 80,000 at Wembley” ever since but this attendance has been beaten on several occasions since in bouts featuring Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

Joshua's fight against Daniel Dubois brought in 96,000 fans in September 2024, a record attendance for a boxing event in the United Kingdom. Dubois came out on top in the all-British clash for the IBF World Heavyweight Title via a fifth-round knockout.

The previous record was held by Fury and Dillian Whyte, who brought in 94,000 fans for a fight in 2022. The Dubois/Joshua fight was able to beat this thanks to Saudi promoter, Turki Al-Sheikh, applying for the capacity of Wembley to be increased in the build-up to the fight.

More floor space was granted, and the extra tickets sold out quickly. Whether this capacity will now be the norm for boxing events at Wembley remains to be seen.

Perhaps the next fight at the national stadium will target the 100,000 mark.

Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte
94,000 fans watched Tyson Fury knock out Dillian Whyte in 2022 – Photo by Icon Sport

Wrestling – 72,265: AEW, 2023

Wrestling hadn't been at Wembley since WWE hosted Summerslam there in 1992 but AEW brought it back in 2023. Some 72,265 fans attended but this is a figure that could be topped this year when the company returns again.

The event's success has made WWE consider bringing Wrestlemania to London. If that were to happen, this record would almost certainly be shattered.

Rugby League – 85,217: Challenge Cup final, 2010

The Challenge Cup has been played at Wembley since the 1920s and frequently hit attendances of more than 90,000 at the old Wembley. In terms of Rugby League's Wembley Stadium record attendance, the 2010 Challenge Cup final between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos takes the top spot with an attendance of 85,217.

Rugby Union – 89,267: Rugby World Cup, 2015

Rugby Union has rarely been played at Wembley Stadium over the year, with Twickenham hosting all major England matches. However, the stadium was used when England hosted the 2015 World Cup, and 89,267 fans turned out to watch Ireland batter Romania. Not only is this a Wembley Stadium record attendance for Rugby Union, but it's also the largest turnout ever for a Rugby World Cup match.