Football: The FIFA World Cup matches most watched by Kiwis

Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates with the World Cup trophy. Photo / Getty

The World Cup is consistently one of the most watched sporting events on the planet, with the past two tournaments each reportedly attracting a total TV audience of 3.2 billion.

While the global figures for this year's World Cup are still being tallied, Nielsen data in New Zealand shows that 29 per cent of New Zealanders (aged 5 years and over) tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup 2018 on TV.

According to Nielsen, that's more than 1.2 million Kiwi viewers who tuned in to watch at least one game or the highlights of the tournament in Russia.

Considering New Zealand didn't even qualify for the World Cup, over a quarter of the population tuning in to the tournament is pretty impressive numbers.

However, that pales in comparison to viewership from other countries.

One of the best stats to emerge from the World Cup was that 99.6 per cent of the entire Icelandic population (335,000) watched the national team's opening match against Argentina, according to Iceland's national broadcasting service RÚV.

Iceland striker Alfreð Finnbogason, who scored Iceland's only goal in that game to earn a point against Argentina, joked on Twitter that the other 0.4 per cent were on the pitch at the time.

The other 0,4% was on the pitch! pic.twitter.com/FNtzRKTlrp

— Alfreð Finnbogason (@A_Finnbogason) June 18, 2018

Here are the top 10 most watched FIFA World Cup 2018 games in New Zealand*:

1. Croatia vs England: 432,300 – Semi-Final, 6am Thursday 12 July
2. Colombia vs England: 285,700 – Round of 16, 6am Wednesday 4 July
3. Belgium vs France: 239,700 – Semi-Final, 6am Wednesday 11 July
4. Belgium vs Brazil: 185,200 – Quarter-Final, 6am Saturday 7 July
5. Croatia vs Russia: 170,000 – Quarter-Final, 6am Sunday 8 July
6. Belgium vs England: 155,900 – Group, 6am Friday 29 June
7. Croatia vs France: 149,000 – Final, 3am Monday 16 July
8. Spain vs Portugal: 144,400 – Group, 6am Saturday 16 June
9. Croatia vs Denmark: 142,400 – Round of 16, 6am Monday 2 July
10. England vs Tunisia: 141,200 – Group, 6am Tuesday 19 June

*Measurement: Programme Cumulative Reach based on 1-min (non-consecutive) – Source: Television Audience Measurement