Australia’s World Cup matches pull in some of the biggest TV audiences on record

IT might have been a nightmare tournament so far for Optus and their streaming services, but TV ratings for the Socceroos have sky-rocketed compared to previous tournaments.

Socceroo’s Daniel Arzani is tackled by Denmark’s Thomas Delaney and Denmark’s Henrik Dalsgaard during the World Cup match between Australia and Denmark at Samara Arena, Russia. Picture: Toby Zerna

THE Socceroos’ first two games at the World Cup have both become part of the top five Australian games at all tournaments, thanks to average audiences of over two million viewers for each game.

The narrow loss to France last Saturday became the third most watched Socceroos game at a World Cup, with an audience of 2.132m, while Thursday night’s draw with Denmark was close behind with an average audience of 2.064m.

Daniel Arzani in action for the Socceroos. Picture: Toby Zerna

Both games enjoyed peak audiences of over 3m viewers, amid the ongoing controversy over Optus’s huge technological dramas around broadcasting the World Cup games.

“We’re absolutely delighted with the support the Socceroos are getting at home,” said Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop.

“The television audiences and the media coverage has been huge.

“It’s a great boost to all the players and staff. The team is representing Australia on the world’s biggest sporting stage and millions of football fans around the country are getting right behind them.

“I am sure we are going to see another huge viewing audience next week against Peru to complement the support the Socceroos are getting from the thousands of Aussie fans who have travelled to Russia.”

TOP AUDIENCES FOR SOCCEROOS AT WORLD CUPS

1 2.277 v Chile, 2014

2 2.212 v Italy, 2006

3 2.168 v Japan, 2006

4 2.132 v France, 2018

5 2.064 v Denmark, 2018

6 2.023 v Croatia, 2006