Global audience totaling to 1.2 billion watched 2018 World Cup finale

A combined global audience of 1.12 billion watched the World Cup final between France and Croatia in July, FIFA, the governing body of world football, said on Friday.

In total, FIFA said, a "combined 3.572 billion viewers - more than half of the global population aged four and over - tuned in to world football's ultimate competition" for at least a minute, over the course of the World Cup's from June 14 to July 15.

A survey it had commissioned by FIFA found that 3.04 billion viewers caught at least three minutes, a 10.9 per cent increase on Brazil 2014, and 2.49 billion watched at least 30 minutes, or one-third of one match, upon 2014's 1.95 billion.

FIFA calculated that the average live audience for each of the 64 matches was 191 million.

The survey estimated that 9.5 per cent of that audience, or 309.7 million people, watched no coverage at home but "caught the action on digital platforms, in public viewing areas or in bars and restaurants."

That proportion was higher for the final between France and Croatia. FIFA said 884.37 million viewers tuning in to traditional TV coverage and a further 231.82 million watching outside the home or digitally.