Over 40M spectators in nearly a century of World Cups

40,532,478 people watched 900 matches played in 21 FIFA World Cup tournaments

By Mutlu Demirtastan

ISTANBUL (AA) – In nearly a century of World Cup competitions, over 40.5 million people have watched matches played in 21 FIFA World Cup tournaments, with the 21st set to start on Nov. 20 in the Gulf nation of Qatar.

In the tournament’s history, a total of 40.53 million people have watched 900 World Cup matches, with an average of 45,036 spectators per match.

The 1994 World Cup, held in the US, was watched by nearly 3.59 million people, setting the record for the most World Cup spectators.

The 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy – only the second tournament, following its debut in 1930 – drew the smallest audience, with only around 363,000 spectators.

France in 1938 became the World Cup with the least number of spectators per match, with only 20,872.

The last World Cup, held in Russia in 2018, was watched by over 3 million people, with an average of 47,371 spectators per game.


- Maracana Stadium record

Maracana Stadium in Brazil, one of the oldest football stadiums in the world, has an important place in the history of the World Cup.

In the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Brazil and Uruguay faced off in the stadium.

The epic final, which was watched by 173,850 ticketed fans, went down in history as the single match with the most spectators in the tournament.

Later, it was claimed that the number of fans who entered the stadium to watch the match topped 200,000.

In the same World Cup, 152,772 people watched the Brazil-Spain match and 142,429 spectators were present at the Brazil-Yugoslavia game.

These two matches placed second and third in the number of spectators after the Brazil-Uruguay game.


- The 21 World Cups and the number of spectators are as follows:

World Cup

Matches

Spectators

Average per game

1930 Uruguay

18

590,549

32,808

1934 Italy

17

363,000

21,353

1938 France

18

375,700

20,872

1950 Brazil

22

1,045,246

47,511

1954 Switzerland

26

768,607

29,562

1958 Sweden

35

819,810

23,423

1962 Chile

32

893,172

27,912

1966 England

32

1,563,135

48,848

1970 Mexico

32

1,603,975

50,124

1974 West Germany

38

1,865,753

49,099

1978 Argentina

38

1,545,791

40,679

1982 Spain

52

2,109,723

40,572

1986 Mexico

52

2,394,031

46,039

1990 Italy

52

2,516,215

48,389

1994 US

52

3,587,538

68,991

1998 France

64

2,785,100

43,517

2002 S.Korea-Japan

64

2,705,197

42,269

2006 Germany

64

3,359,439

52,491

2010 South Africa

64

3,178,856

49,670

2014 Brazil

64

3,429,876

53,592

2018 Russia

64

3,031,768

47,371

TOTAL

900

40,532,478

45,036

*Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

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