In Germany, the ratings for the 2022 World Cup are bad. A majority of German football fans seem to reject the tournament. A FIFA report shows that this trend does not apply to all countries. Many nations are posting record numbers.
FIFA released a report on the World Cup ratings on Thursday. The basic tenor of the report: The 2022 World Cup is the most popular tournament in history. A look at the TV ratings in the countries reveals that the number of viewers has increased significantly compared to the 2018 World Cup. There is also information about individual countries.
In Germany, the opposite of what FIFA claims prevails. Already on the first days of the tournament it became apparent that the interest of German football fans was severely limited. On Monday, the market share of the evening game was just 16 percent. For comparison: At the tournament in Russia, hardly any game had less than 40 percent market share.
The figures for the opening game of the German national team were even more frightening. The first German game against Japan took place on Wednesday at 2 p.m. On average, just 9.23 million people watched the encounter. It is worth emphasizing the unfavorable kick-off time, but there is also a comparison: In 2010, Germany played Serbia at 1:30 p.m. At that time, 22 million viewers tuned in.
In other European countries, the lack of interest is not so great. In Great Britain, 6.25 million viewers watched the opening game. This corresponds to an increase of 57.5 percent compared to the opening of the 2018 World Cup. This development can also be seen in France. The TF1 broadcast was seen by 5.05 million people. That's 30 percent more than in the opening game of the Russian World Cup.
The same applies to Italy and Spain. Despite Italy not taking part, TV viewership of the opening game has increased compared to the World Cup four years ago. On Sunday, 1.07 million more people tuned in. In Spain, the increase was about 13 percent. The opening match also brought in record numbers for Dutch broadcaster NPO1. The broadcaster had a market share of 74.5 percent, more than in November.
In Brazil, the average viewership has also increased. At the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2018, 22.86 million people watched TV. This year there were already 24.36 million, which corresponds to an increase of 6 percent in the overall comparison.
In neighboring Colombia, the broadcast surpassed the previous record for the number of viewers at a World Cup opening game. Caracol TV peaked at 6.3 million and a market share of 62.7 percent. The increase in Ecuador was even more extreme. On average, 3.3 million Ecuadorians watched their home country's game. That's 109 percent more than in the opening game in Russia.
With all the positive figures that FIFA published on Thursday, it should be emphasized that the report should be viewed critically. Because: FIFA only mentions positive numbers and avoids classifying them in the overall context. If you keep some important information in mind, the "record numbers" appear in a different light.
In the report, FIFA exclusively uses figures for the opening game and compares them with those of four years ago. It is omitted that the game at the 2018 World Cup took place on a Thursday at 5 p.m. The first game in Qatar kicked off at the same time on a Sunday. A time when TV viewership is usually higher.
The huge increase in ratings in Ecuador is also hardly surprising given that the South American country did not take part in the last World Cup. This statistic is also not very impressive within the overall context.
This article was originally posted on 90min.de as How many people are watching the 2022 World Cup? - The countries published in comparison.
