England women crowd set to surpass men's game with Norway

England Women and Germany faced each other for the first time in five years when they played in the final of the 2009 UEFA European Championships

England women's first match at Wembley will be played in front of a larger crowd than the men's team's game with Norway in September.

Almost 41,000 tickets have been sold for the friendly against Germany on Sunday 23 November.

Their male counterparts attracted a crowd of 40,181 in the 1-0 friendly win against Norway - the lowest crowd for an international at the new Wembley.

England qualified for the 2015 Women's World Cup with a 100% record.

The match with Germany will be shown live on BBC Two as England continue their preparations for the tournament in Canada in June 2015.

The disappointing crowd for the men's friendly match against Norway was followed up with an attendance of 55,990 for Roy Hodgson's side's opening home qualifier for Euro 2016 against San Marino.

The previous best attendance for an England women's game was 29,092, recorded when England played Finland at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium in 2005, as part of the European Championships.

Media interest in the women's game is at an all-time high: the climax to the Women's Super League (WSL) was screened on television, in addition to England international matches being shown on the BBC.

England striker Natasha Dowie, who was part of the Liverpool side which won the WSL title in dramatic fashion, told BBC Sport the team has high expectations for the final attendance on the night.

"Hopefully we can get more, and I'm sure the girls will be bringing a lot of people to the game, but just to be able to play in front of that kind of atmosphere and that number of people the girls are all buzzing and can't wait for that game to come."

England and Germany last met in the final of the 2009 European Championships, a game which the Germans won 6-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.

"Germany have always been an incredibly strong nation in women's football," said England manager Mark Sampson.

"They're a team that continue to get results, they're always at the end of major championships, and they're European champions - so we'll expect a really tough game."

England will travel to Germany, who are second in the world rankings, for a reverse fixture on a date yet to be confirmed.