While there is no replacing the USMNT, the world’s other marquee teams might keep World Cup ratings respectable.
Viewership exceeded the previous two-year high of 2.92 million for Portugal-Spain the previous morning.
The 1-1 draw, which peaked with 4.06 million viewers, had an audience of 3.13 million with streaming included.
Through Saturday, the FIFA World Cup is averaging 1.86 million viewers across FOX and FS1. The comparable three-day average in 2014 was not available. Including U.S. matches, the complete group stage averaged 3.5 million on ESPN/ABC in 2014, 2.4 million in 2010 and 1.69 million in 2006.
Over on Telemundo, Peru-Denmark scored 2.6 million viewers, a figure that includes streaming viewership and a half-hour of pre-match coverage. In the same window four years ago, Univision earned 3.1 million for Colombia-Greece — which did not include streaming or pre-match viewership.
Telemundo averaged 1.7 million viewers for Saturday’s four matches, with that number rising to 1.9 million with streaming included.
[Numbers from Fox Sports PR 6.17, Telemundo]
