Key questions regarding the crowd in 1971: 1. Whose records? 2. Were they paying fans? over 65,000 attended the first Women's World Cup final in 1991 in Guangzhou, China. However, many of them were factory workers forced to attend. The 90,185 attended voluntarily and paid. Plus, the 40,000,000 viewers in the USA probably exceeded anything on Mexican television in 1971 for that match.
This post comes across as though you're somehow threatened for the 1999 WWC reputation -- a little defensive. Why do you seem to denigrate the Azteca game? Celebrating the history of women's soccer isn't a zero sum game. Celebrating the 1971 game does nothing to take away from any of the other WWCs. This link provides some good info on the history of women's soccer at a time when FIFA and the men's federations were actively against it. Let's celebrate all of these games, players, and events.
I thought that Foudy mentioned that game during one of the telecasts. I can't remember if I it was during a WWC game or one of the pre-cup games. If I remember, she wondered about the circumstances and whether there was a men's doubleheader going on. Maybe she's a little biased. Just part of lore and legend when video and newspaper accounts are hard to find and preserve.