Argentina Vs. France Game Was Most-Watched World Cup Finals Ever In U.S.

Topline

Sunday’s FIFA World Cup championship face-off between Argentina and France was the most-watched finals game for the men’s soccer tournament ever on Fox, garnering 16.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Key Facts

The game topped the previous record set in 1994 of 14.5 million viewers for a game between Italy and Brazil, according to Variety.

The 2018 World Cup finals between France and Croatia was the lowest-watched championship game since 2002, garnering 12.51 million views in the U.S., Deadline reported, making this year’s audience a 19% increase for Fox.

An average of 29.4 million viewers watched the game on French broadcaster TF1, setting a record in France, according to Deadline.

Roughly 9 million viewers watched the game on Telemundo and on Peacock in the U.S., breaking a record for the network.

Key Background

Argentina beat France in a shootout after extra time. The win earned Messi his first World Cup trophy, and the first for Argentina since 1986. This year’s tournament took place in Qatar, a choice that was met with backlash and protests, even from players. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and billions of dollars were spent to build stadiums to host to host the tournament, which were constructed by migrants and laborers, thousands of whom died in the process. In October, some French cities said they would not broadcast the games on massive, public screens to protest Qatar’s human rights issues.

Tangent

Messi’s Instagram post of the World Cup trophy officially became the most-liked Instagram post ever on Tuesday, with 61 million likes.

Further Reading

World Cup Final: Messi Wins First World Cup Title As Argentina Beats France In Penalty Kicks (Forbes)

World Cup: FIFA Boss Says ‘Everyone Has Their Own Problems’ In Plea To Curb Player Protests (Forbes)