Most Popular World Cup Matches

More than 31 million people tuned in to see Senegal's first-round victory over France in the 2002 FIFA World Cup - making it the most-watched match of the opening weekend (May 31) - according to preliminary audience estimates for 17 countries released this week by Nielsen Media Research.

The May 31 match - in which Senegal beat the heavily favoured France, 1-0, in Seoul, South Korea - drew its largest audience in China, where the game was seen by 9.1 million people in the nation's 11 largest cities - including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. That translates to a 24% rating, second only to the 28% rating the match achieved in South Korea, and slightly ahead of the 23% rating in Malaysia. (A rating is the percent of persons in TV households watching the event.)

In the United States, the Senegal-France match was seen by nearly 900,000 viewers (0.3% persons rating, combined telecasts), according to Nielsen Media Research. The game was broadcast live in the U.S. on ESPN2 beginning at 7:30 a.m. on the East Coast, May 31, and re-aired on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. the same day. Among Hispanic viewers in the U.S., the match scored a 2.7% persons rating on Univision. Approximately 943,000 viewers watched the game live on Univision.

The largest U.S. audience to view the opening round of the World Cup (2.1 million viewers; 0.8% persons rating) was on ABC, in which England and Sweden tied 1-1, on June 2, at Saitama, Japan. ABC aired the game on tape delay at 4:00 p.m. (East Coast time).

Other audience estimates from Week One include:

• More than two million viewers in the U.S. (0.5% persons rating, combined telecasts) watched the U.S. defeat Portugal, 3-2, at Suwon, South Korea, on June 5. The game began just before 5:00 a.m. (East Coast time) on ESPN2, and was televised again by ESPN2 at 3 p.m.
  
• In Ireland, nearly 800,000 people (22% of the audience) watched Ireland battle Cameroon to a 1-1 draw on June 1 at Niigata, Japan. Not surprisingly, it was the largest World Cup audience in Ireland during Week One.
  
• In South Africa, more than 2 million adults tuned in to the South Africa-Paraguay match on June 2 from Busan, South Korea (the match ended in a 2-2 draw). It was the largest World Cup audience on the opening weekend in South Africa, scoring a 15% rating among adults.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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