World Cup Final Draws Record Viewership in France

This year’s World Cup final is being called the best ever, and some television networks would likely agree.

France’s leading broadcaster TF1 averaged a record 24.1 million viewers when Argentina defeated France on Sunday, with a peak of 29.4 million and a market share of 81%.

• France’s 2018 World Cup final win over Croatia averaged just 19.3 million, peaking at 22.3 million.
• The last record in France was the country’s 2006 World Cup semifinal against Portugal, which averaged 22.2 million viewers.
• It was the first edition for which audience measurement firm Médiamétrie counted out-of-home-viewing.

BeIN Sports also broadcast the game in the country but hasn’t released figures.

The game was the third-most-watched Qatar World Cup match in the U.K. BBC One reportedly peaked at 14.9 million, while ITV One peaked at 4.4 million. The channels averaged at a respective 9.1 million and 2.7 million viewers.

England’s quarterfinal loss to France was the U.K.’s most-watched match of the tournament and of the year across U.K. TV.

In India, 32 million viewers tuned in on JioCinema.

Red, White, and Les Bleus

Fox Sports hasn’t released its figures for viewership in the U.S. yet, but it has high expectations.

Argentina’s semifinal win over Croatia on Dec. 13 brought in 6.47 million viewers — making it the most-watched World Cup semifinal on English-language TV.