It’s surprising to many that the highest ever football attendance at the new Wembley Stadium stands at 89,874, set during the 2008 FA Cup Final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City. Opened in 2007, the new Wembley has hosted countless high-profile matches — from England internationals to Champions League finals — yet this seemingly unremarkable cup final holds the attendance record.
On 17 May 2008, fans of Portsmouth and Cardiff City packed Wembley for a historic occasion. For Portsmouth, it marked their first FA Cup Final appearance since 1939, while Cardiff were seeking to become the first non-English club to win the competition since they last did so in 1927. The game itself was tense and tightly contested, with Nwankwo Kanu scoring the only goal of the match in the 37th minute to seal a 1–0 win for Pompey.
The match’s record-breaking crowd can be attributed to the massive fanbases of both clubs and the significance of the occasion. It was also early in the stadium’s reopening era, with novelty and excitement drawing fans in. While other matches have come close, none have quite managed to top the 89,874 mark — making this final a standout moment in Wembley’s modern history.
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