The ratings for the first German World Cup game on Wednesday fell dramatically compared to 2018. In the 2-1 defeat against Japan, an average of 9.23 million viewers in Germany tuned in, as AGF video research calculated on Thursday. At the World Cup four years ago, ARD and ZDF each reached an average of more than 25 million people in the three group games of the German team.
Fifa, on the other hand, announces high ratings for the World Cup in many countries. According to the world association, media data for Brazil, France and Great Britain, for example, would show significantly higher ratings during the opening game than at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 5.05 million viewers watched the first game of the tournament on French broadcaster TF1. Four years ago it was only 3.83 million. However, FIFA did not mention in its announcement that the opening game of the 2018 World Cup took place on a Thursday at 5 p.m. The first game in Qatar was kicked off at the same time on a Sunday, when more people are watching TV anyway. The world association also announced that the ratings in Ecuador for the opening game in 2022 were 109 percent higher than the best values of the two past World Cups. Ecuador, however, was the opening opponent of hosts Qatar this time, while they did not play at the 2018 World Cup.