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.

Lionel Messi of Argentina scores a goal to make it 3-2 during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final … [+] match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar.

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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 protestseven 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.