The Most Watched Football Matches in History

Sports brings the community better and Football is arguably the most popular and widespread sport in the world. Combine it with special occasions on a major tournament such as a World Cup Final or a UEFA Champions League Knockout, the world seems to stand still and all eyes end up being glued to the screens for those 2 hours. 

There have been somewhere spectacles that really managed to capture the public's imagination to such an extent that some of the numbers that the broadcasts of those matches generated are still unbeaten. 

Let's  discover what exactly were these matches that managed to grab our eyeballs.

5. 2006 World Cup Final – Italy vs France

The match which is mostly remembered as the Zidane headbutt match and the match in itself went down to the wire and only a David Trezegut penalty miss was what ended up separating  the Underdogs France and the Favourites at that time Italy from the World Cup Trophy.

This match amassed a global audience of 715 million viewers across the world.

4. 2010 World Cup Final – Netherlands vs Spain

Africa's first ever World Cup and subsequently their first World Cup Final was a wild safari ride indeed. It was a first for Spain too as they won their first ever World Cup Final. That extra time Iniesta goal and that iconic shirt celebration is something that is played in World Cup highlights packages still to this day. Also, it was the last world cup before the age of social media and thus in a way, it was the passing of the old guard to the new guard.

A combined global audience of 909 million viewers across the world were  tuned into this match.

3. 2014 FIFA World Cup Final – Argentina vs Germany

The world cup mostly remembered for the 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil by the hands of Germany, that goal by Mario Gotze, the 113th minute volley in the final and the rise of a certain James Rodriguez. Here the subject of our attention was the match in which Mario managed to secure the title for Germany with his clutch goal against Argentina who would have had to wait about 8 more years before they could get a chance to get their hands on the trophy.

This nail biting encounter ended up breaching the 1 Billion mark for the first time a staggering combined global audience of 1.013 billion viewers across the world witnessed  this spectacle in front of their screens and in stadium.

2. 2018 FIFA World Cup Final – France vs Croatia

As you would have noticed a pattern, the more recent world Cups have had better viewership due to various factors such as more teams, evolution in Broadcasting technology  and Rapid commercialization of the game. The 2018 WC Final in Russia was no different. Though unlike the first 3 matches on the list, France ran out 4-2 winners against Underdogs Croatia  and the world was introduced to the global phenomenon who goes by the name of Kylian Mbappe on the world's biggest stage for the first time as he became the second teenager to score in a world cup final.

This managed to glue a combined global audience of 1.12 billion viewers across the world to their screens.

1. 2022 Qatar World Cup Final – Argentina vs France

The final to be remembered for ages, the battle of present GOAT vs Future GOAT. The near demolition of Argentina by Mbappe and France and then the comeback which saw them edge the star studded French side giving Messi the only thing that had eluded him so far in his career. This roller-coaster  of a final will surely go down as one of the greatest matches in recent history, if not of all time.

A combined global audience of 1.5 billion viewers across the world saw Messi and Argentina lift the World Cup in the winter of 2022.

Cover Credits - FIFA Official