It was a landmark World Cup for women’s football; a real watershed moment for the whole sporting movement. FIFA released the viewing figures for the tournament today and they further confirm the success of the World Cup held in France earlier this year: a total of 1.12 billion spectators followed the tournament either on TV, via digital platforms or at public screenings. 993.5 million people watched at least one minute of the tournament on TV, which represents a 30% increase from 2015, which managed to draw in 764 million television viewers. It is estimated that 481.5 million people watched the World Cup on digital platforms, which is also a significant increase compared to the estimated 86 million in 2015.

The most viewed fixture was the final between the United States and the Netherlands, which was watched in full by 82.12 million people (a 56% increase from the 2015 final). In second place was France vs. Brazil in the Round of 16 (60.67 million) followed in third place by the semi-final between England and the USA (43.16 million). The viewing figures for Italy vs. Brazil were sensational; the fourth most-watched match of the tournament and the most-viewed group stage game with 42.33 million viewers. It was the first time the Women's National Team had played Brazil in their history and it was broadcasted domestically by Rai 1, which registered 7.32 million television viewers in Italy; the highest figure of all time in our country for a match of women’s football.

The five matches the Azzurre played were broadcasted domestically by Rai and Sky and in total 24.41 Italians watched the games, with an average of 4.88 million viewers per match. That figure was on average 31.84% of Italy’s total TV audience. The 52 matches of the World Cup, which were broadcasted in 205 nations, were watched on average by 17.27 million people. That’s more than double the average of 8.39 million viewers during Canada 2015.

For the data on the viewing figures click here