The UEFA Women’s European Championship tournament will draw a record attendance in England this summer with 500,000 tickets already sold, UEFA said on Friday.

The tournament, postponed last year due to COVID-19, is expected to draw an audience from at least 99 countries, with 20% of the purchases coming from outside England.

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The attendance will break the previous record set in 2017 in the Netherlands where 240,000 fans attended matches and saw the hosts lift the trophy for the first time.

UEFA said the strongest demand for tickets so far had come from England, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and France.

The tournament takes place from July 6-31 across eight cities in England and has 700,000 tickets in total available.

UEFA added that 43% of the total purchases have come from female fans.