Johannesburg, June 14 (DPA) A record 10 million South Africans, nearly one in five, watched the opening game of the World Cup between South Africa and Mexico June 11, World Cup organizing body FIFA announced Monday.
The average number of people who watched the game on the public broadcaster SABC and satellite channel SuperSport for the game was 10,146,793, FIFA said.
That was 39 per cent more than the 7.35 million people who watched the semi-final of the Confederations Cup last year between Brazil and South Africa — a game Brazil won and which had previously held the title of most-watched game ‘in recent history of sports viewing,’ FIFA said.
In Mexico, nearly 19 per cent of the population with access to television watched the opening game, FIFA said, using figures supplied by the official broadcasters.
Interest was also keen in the United States, which has sent more foreign spectators to the World Cup than any other country, including football bastions such as England and Germany.
Around 5.4 million people in the US watched the opening game on Univision, twice as many as watched the opening game of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
It was China, however, that scooped first place for the largest number of spectators for a game so far.
An average of nearly 24 million viewers watched South Korea beat Greece 2-0 in Port Elizabeth on China’s CCTV5 channel.
Arch-rivals also make ardent viewers: nearly 1 in 5 people in Germany watched England’s first game Saturday, against the US. The teams drew 1-1.
