What was the least attended match of the second round of 2026 World Cup group games?

While the second round of group-stage fixtures continued to attract impressive crowds across North America, the lowest attendance of Matchday 2 came in Toronto.

Our 2026 World Cup attendance tracker has highlighted another week of strong support, with multiple stadiums reporting capacity crowds and several matches drawing more than 80,000 supporters.

However, at the bottom of the attendance table were two matches at BMO Field, where Germany's dramatic 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast and Croatia's 1-0 win over Panama both attracted crowds of just 43,036.

That figure was the lowest recorded during the second round of group-stage fixtures, but as with Toronto's lowest-attended match of Matchday 1, the raw number does not tell the full story.

Both games were officially recorded as sell-outs, filling the stadium to 100% of its World Cup capacity.

Two packed houses at Toronto Stadium

The first of the two matches came on June 20th, when Germany produced a dramatic comeback against Ivory Coast.

The African side took the lead through captain Franck Kessie after 30 minutes and looked set to secure a famous victory.

Germany thought they had equalised twice before the break, only for goals from Aleksandar Pavlovic and Kai Havertz to be ruled out.

Their persistence eventually paid off midway through the second half when Deniz Undav found the net in the 68th minute. As the clock ticked into stoppage time, the striker struck again to complete the turnaround and hand Germany a crucial 2-1 victory.

Three days later, BMO Field again hosted the tournament's smallest crowd of the round, despite every available seat being occupied.

Croatia defeated Panama 1-0 thanks to an early second-half goal from substitute Ante Budimir.

The victory moved Croatia to the brink of qualification from Group L, while Panama's second defeat confirmed their elimination from the World Cup.

The occasion was also notable for Luka Modric, who made his 200th international appearance for Croatia, adding another landmark achievement to his remarkable career.

Other World Cup Matchday 2 games that came close

Only two other matches finished below the 50,000 mark during the second round of fixtures.

Mexico's 1-0 victory over South Korea at Estadio Akron attracted 45,522 supporters, while Colombia's 1-0 win over DR Congo at the same venue drew 45,358 fans.

Those crowds were slightly higher than the two Toronto fixtures, but once again represented more than 99% of stadium capacity.

So while Germany vs Ivory Coast and Panama vs Croatia officially share the title of the lowest-attended matches of Matchday 2, both were played in front of packed houses, reinforcing the point that attendance totals alone can be misleading when comparing venues of vastly different sizes.