Ferran Torres scored in extra time, and that single goal against Argentina made Spain world champion on Sunday evening. The football thriller attracted an enormous number of viewers in this country as well. An average of 17.36 million viewers watched the live broadcast on ZDF, as the figures from AGF Videoforschung show.
This placed the final in a ratings dimension that was otherwise only reached by matches involving Germany during this tournament. When the German national team was eliminated in the round of 16 at the end of June, there were only slightly more viewers at around 17.6 million - although kickoff took place at the late hour of 10:30 p.m.
The market share on Sunday evening was 65.1 percent, and it was even more pronounced among younger audiences: 5.65 million viewers aged 14 to 49 accounted for 73.0 percent. Those who watched in bars and pubs are not included in these figures, nor is the audience on MagentaTV.
More Interest Than 2022, Less Than 2018
Compared to previous tournament finals, the result is solid. Less than 14 million people in Germany watched the final between France and Argentina four years ago. However, in 2018, for the final between France and Croatia, over 21 million tuned in.
The ratings record for this World Cup remains with the German team's first group match against Curaçao, which had a final weighted viewership of 24.01 million fans on Das Erste. It was the only match of the tournament to exceed the 20 million mark. The other two preliminary round matches fell below that, as did the round of 16 match against Paraguay, which didn't kick off until 10:30 p.m.
Pre and Post-Game Coverage Also Performed Well
ZDF scored on Sunday not only with the match itself. Pre and post-match coverage averaged 4.73 million viewers, and shortly before kickoff, 11.63 million people were already watching. At the end of the day, the total audience market share stood at 33.5 percent and 42.8 percent among 14 to 49-year-olds. There was hardly anything left for the competition that evening. At least ARD could be pleased with a respectable 4.90 million viewers for a repeat of "Tatort". The Münster episode "Unter Gärtnern" first aired in 2024.
Telekom Secures 2030 World Cup Rights
Even before kickoff of the final, Deutsche Telekom announced news of its own: It has secured the media rights to all 104 matches of the 2030 World Cup. MagentaTV will thus remain involved in the tournament after next, after the company had already secured the rights to all 51 matches of the next European Championship from ARD and ZDF, 17 of them exclusively.
That Telekom would make a move was foreseeable. The MagentaTV broadcasts of this World Cup generated great interest, not least because of expert appearances by Jürgen Klopp. He recently generated plenty of attention, as he is being discussed as the new national team coach.
Who will broadcast the 2030 matches, which will take place in six countries on three continents, on free-to-air television remains open. Only what the Media State Treaty stipulates is certain: The German team's matches must be freely accessible, as must the opening match, both semifinals and the final.
