Women’s World Cup win was most watched soccer game in U.S. history

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 6 (UPI) — The United States’ 5-2 defeat of Japan in the Women’s World Cup final was the most-watched soccer game — men’s or women’s — in U.S. history.

A record 25.4 million people watched the game Sunday on Fox, the network said.

That’s more than the number of people who watched the NBA final on ABC last month (23.3 million) and Game 7 of the World Series on Fox last year (23.5 million).

Sunday’s record also blew past the previous record for soccer on television in the United States, which was set last year when the U.S. men’s team played Portugal in the World Cup. The game attracted 18.2 million viewers.

Another 1.3 million people watched the game on the Spanish-language network Telemundo, bringing total U.S. viewership to 26.7 million.