Women's Euro 2022: Record-breaking crowds, the favorites and which players to watch

By Matias Grez, CNN

Updated 1041 GMT (1841 HKT) July 5, 2022

The Netherlands come into Euro 2022 as the defending champion and one of the favorites.

(CNN)Euro 2022 looks set to be the crescendo for a record-breaking wave of support for women's football in Europe this season.

Around 450,000 tickets have already been sold for the 16-team tournament — including a sellout 73,200 for England's opener against Austria at Old Trafford and 87,200 for the Wembley final — far exceeding the previous record of 240,000 set in the Netherlands four years ago.The hype around the tournament follows on from a season that saw numerous attendance records broken across the continent.In Spain, Barcelona set a new world record attendance figure for a women's game as 91,648 packed a sold out Camp Nou for the first leg of its Champions League semifinal against Wolfsburg, breaking a record that had stood since the 1999 Women's World Cup final.There were also records broken in France, where 43,254 fans turned up at the Parc des Princes to watch Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League semifinal against Lyon, while England also saw its club attendance record broken as 49,094 saw Chelsea beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley.Read MoreExcitement for the start of the Euro 2022 is palpable in Sweden, too, where a record 33,218 turned out to watch the national team beat Brazil in its final warmup game.This season has proved, beyond doubt, that a huge appetite for women's football exists across Europe. For that reason, there has been some consternation around UEFA's decision to use stadiums, such as the Manchester City Academy Stadium and Leigh Sports Village, that some players and fans consider too small for such a major tournament.READ: Northe