‘Best World Cup ever’: more than half of global population watched football showpiece in Russia

More than half of the global population watched the World Cup in Russia, which was broadcast in all corners of the world from 14 June to 15 July.

READ MORE: FIFA President Infantino hails Russia's World Cup as 'best ever'

A total of 3.572 billion viewers aged four and over, including those who watched TV at home, out of home or on digital platforms, followed the World Cup matches held in 11 Russian cities.

According to a report released by the football governing body on Friday, the final match between Croatia and France was seen live by a combined audience of 1.12 billion people worldwide.

The report states that the number of viewers watching three minutes or more rose by 10.9% compared to the 2014 global tournament in Brazil.

The number of people watching three minutes or more increased 10.9% from the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Over the course of 64 games played in Russia, the average live audience amounted to 191 million people with television ratings skyrocketing on match days.

“These figures really do support the claim that Russia 2018 was the best World Cup ever,” said FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Philippe Le Floc’h.

“We're particularly pleased to see an increase in the average time viewers are engaging with matches, which shows that we are giving the fans what they want. The fact that half the world’s population watched the FIFA World Cup reflects not just the high quality of our award-winning live coverage, but also that fans everywhere are insatiable for world-class football.