Over 4.4 million people watch Argentina win the World Cup

The final of the men’s football World Cup between Argentina and France was watched by more than 4.4 million people on Sunday, according to statistics by the viewing research foundation Stichting Kijkonderzoek (SKO). The live broadcast was the most watched program of the day on NPO1 and had a larger audience than programs like Heel Holland Bakt or the NOS news broadcast at 8 p.m.

The kick-off for the final was at 4 p.m. Dutch time, and the public got their money’s worth. After a spectacular finish to the match, the score was 2-2 after 90 minutes, sending the game to extra time. Two goals were scored during the additional time, but it was still level (3-3). Therefore, a series of penalties decided the winner. Argentina took their penalties better and won their third World Cup in their history.

According to the SKO, 3.1 million people stayed to see the medals being awarded. An average of 3.2 million switched to the 8 p.m. NOS news. The first episode of the new season of Heel Holland Bakt, which was shown afterwards, pulled in over 2.7 million viewers. Isola di Beau was watched by just over a million people on RTL 4. The last episode of the Oranjewinter on SBS 6 got around 870,000 viewers.

The final of the World Cup in Qatar was watched by more people than the final in 2018 when 3 million people saw France beat Croatia 4-2. In 2014, 5.9 million saw Germany beat Argentina in extra time.

The Netherlands lost the semi-final to Argentina that year which was seen by over 9 million people, the highest viewership for a World Cup game. The most watched final was in 2010 when Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time. Some 8.5 million people watched that match.

The World Cup finals of 2002 and 2006 were watched by 5.5 and 2.7 million people, respectively. The Round of 16 match between the Netherlands and Portugal had far more viewers than the 2006 final: 8.2 million viewers.