Within five minutes of opening its doors ahead of the Women’s World Cup final Sunday evening, the Red Lyon Tavern had reached its capacity, and owner Jerry Neverve was shaking his head, turning people away.

“This year it’s been busy for all the matches,” Neverve said.

About an hour before kickoff, a crowd keen to watch the U.S. play Japan in Canada waited outside the bar, some wearing American flags fastened cape-like around their necks, and soccer chants could be heard echoing down an otherwise quiet Massachusetts Street.

The bar has been at or near its capacity of 101 for every game of the Women’s World Cup, Neverve said, marking a definite increase in turnout from the last tournament four years ago.

“Everybody bought in with the women’s team,” he said. “It’s fabulous.”

Spencer Lott, a Lawrence native now living in Brooklyn, said he’s glad there’s as much fanfare for the women’s team as the men’s.

“A lot of people are just talking about the World Cup — without the qualifier that it’s the women’s,” he noted.

Last week, the U.S. beat No.1-ranked Germany 2-0 to advance to Sunday’s final against Japan. The U.S.-Japan game was a rematch of the 2011 final, in which the U.S. lost following a shootout.

And the fans who made it in got what they hoped for. Within 16 minutes of kickoff, the U.S. had scored four times, each goal setting off chants such as, “We want another one, just like the other one. We want five,” from the Red Lyon crowd.

And five goals they got: The match ended 5-2, securing the U.S. team’s third World Cup win — the most of any country — in 25 years, adding to titles from 1991 and 1999.

The enthusiastic crowd is what brought Briana Campbell, of Lawrence, back to watch her second match, even though she said she didn’t grow up playing or watching soccer.

“I really enjoyed it,” she said of watching the team’s previous win over Germany. “I got really into it because of the atmosphere.”

The Red Lyon has been a fixture for soccer fans in Lawrence for more than 20 years, airing games from various leagues. Wilo Rosado, of Lawrence, said he has been coming to watch soccer there for a decade. Rosado met his wife, Jenny Schmitt, at the Red Lyon during the 2006 Men’s World Cup.

“For soccer fans like me and my wife, it’s just perfect,” Rosado said.