Ghana match draws record number of US viewers

Ghana’s 2-1 defeat of the United States was watched by more than 19 million US television viewers, making it the most-watched football match ever in the United States, ratings service Nielsen has revealed.

The USA crashed out in the last 16 of this year’s FIFA World Cup, however, 19.4 million viewers tuned in to the US-Ghana match on ABC and Spanish-language channel Univision, a total which beat the 18.1 million people who viewed the 1994 Italy-Brazil World Cup final.

Vice President of Sports at Nielsen, Stephen Master, said: “This record viewership proves that soccer is as popular as it has ever been in the United States.”

In 1999 the US-China women’s final of the World Cup drew an audience of 18 million, while the England-US match from this World Cup attracted 17.1 million viewers.