5.5 million watched Oranje women battle U.S. in World Cup final

Nearly 5.5 million people tuned in to watch the Oranje Lionesses play against the United States in the FIFA World Cup Final on Sunday afternoon. This is a new record for the Oranje women, after the semi-final against Sweden attracted just over 5 million viewers, NOS reports.

The ratings do not include the people who watched the final outside their homes - many cities put up large screens to show the match. The Dutch women lost the World Cup title to the United States. The match ended 2-0. The Oranje Lionesses are disappointed that they did not get the title, but proud of how far they made it.

Almost 5 million people stayed tuned in after the match to watch the subsequent ceremony. The World Cup final, semi-final and ceremony were the most watched programs in the Netherlands last week.

The Oranje Lionesses are returning to the Netherlands on Monday and are expected to arrive at Schiphol at around 5:30 p.m. On Monday night the entire team will be the guests in a special Studio France broadcast, which will be shown on NPO1 at 9:25 p.m.