Mexico v South Africa opener draws 4.88m on M6, best summer World Cup since 2014

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·13 juin 2026

Mexico v South Africa opener draws 4.88m on M6, best summer World Cup since 2014

Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa in the World Cup opener drew an average 4.88 million viewers on M6 on Thursday night, the strongest audience for a summer tournament curtain-raiser since 2014.

The co-hosts launched the 23rd edition with victory over South Africa. Shown free-to-air on M6, the broadcast recorded a 28.5% audience share.

Vidéos OneFootball

Pre-match show Le Mag, presented by Ophélie Meunier, averaged 2.61 million viewers for a 16.7% share. The post-match debrief attracted 993,000, a 16.3% share.

For comparison, the November 2022 opener, Qatar v Ecuador, ended 0-2 and averaged 5.13 million viewers with a 31.3% share.

The 2018 curtain-raiser, Russia v Saudi Arabia, drew an average of 3.98 million viewers.

Source: L'Équipe