World Cup: France V Australia Scores Big For TF1; Argentina V Iceland Is Hot Euro Draw
Saturday’s first afternoon World Cup match saw France labor to a 2-1 win over Australia in its tournament entry, and gave TF1 its best score of the year. The game kicked off at 12PM French time, and brought TF1 69% of the TV audience on a blistering Saturday afternoon. In total, 12.6M viewers tuned in for Les Bleus with a peak of 14.9M.
Elsewhere yesterday, underdogs Iceland drew with Lionel Messi’s Argentina while Croatia faced off with Nigeria, and Peru met Denmark. Overall, the football is fairly dominating European television as play continues and with two enticing matches to come later today.
In Germany, which finally gets its boots on in this World Cup today versus Mexico, 5.2M watched France and Australia on the pitch, giving ZDF a 48.9 share. Argentina v Iceland was the next most-watched match of the day at 3PM in the home of the reigning World Cup champions with 7.54M viewers and a 54.7 share for ZDF. Croatia topping Nigeria was the day’s biggest draw at 9PM local with 8.49M and 33.7% of the audience. That’s a huge contrast to the ratings in France for that match, which grabbed just 4.05M viewers and a 22 share in the same time slot.
In Spain, which had seen a 3-3 draw with Portugal in a stunning match Friday night, Mediaset’s Cuatro had a 30.6 share for France v Australia and 1.75M viewers. Argentina v Iceland was the top match of the day in eyeball terms with 3.72M viewers and a 29.2 share.
The BBC has not yet provided its stats for France v Australia, however ITV says Croatia v Nigeria had an average viewing audience of 4.5M with a peak of 5.6M and a 26.3 share while Argentina v Iceland logged an average 4.1M viewers and a peak of 5.9M for a 43.5 share.
Today’s fixtures are Germany v Mexico (11AM ET) and Brazil v Switzerland (2PM ET). Nineteen of the top 20 most watched TV programs ever in Germany are soccer matches, with each garnering more than 25M viewers, and today’s game should not disappoint in the ratings. For a rundown of where to catch the play Stateside, check out our guide here.
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