Another game decided in extra time this morning with the game finishing about 9:40 AM AEST. SBS went straight to promos and ads. Post game 9:53. Coverage finished at 10AM then to Al Jazeera News.
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The next Cup Fever isn’t until Wednesday following the first semi final.
Guy Montgomery was guest tonight.
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Millions tuned in for quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ on SBS**
Norway v England attracted a Total TV reach of 3.7 million on Sunday morning
More than 3 million also tuned into the match between Argentina and Switzerland
Most Australians have watched the tournament as cumulative reach hits 17.1 million
Australians continue to flock to SBS’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ broadcast in huge numbers as the tournament enters its final thrilling week.
In quarter-final action over the weekend, 3.7 million* (VOZ Total TV reach) watched England defeat Norway 2-1 in extra-time on Sunday (12 July) to progress to the quarter-finals. The average audience was 2.1 million. This was the biggest audience for a match not involving Australia, and the fourth biggest match audience of the tournament.
According to preliminary numbers, most of those stayed on to watch Argentina defeat Switzerland 3-1 in extra-time (3.19 million in VOZ Total TV reach and 1.72 million in average audience). Six matches have now reached more than three million.
The Norway-England post-match show also reached over three million viewers. In all, SBS had the top six programs on Sunday (12 July) in the VOZ daily ratings published today.
Excitement continues to build as the last four teams battle for the title. On Wednesday, France will meet Spain in the first semi-final (5am AEST), while England will play Argentina in the second semi-final on Thursday (5am AEST). The winners will meet in the World Cup final on Monday, 20 July (5am AEST).
Sources:
* Reach-To Date: VOZ National Total TV | Date: 11/06/2026 – 13/07/2026 | Data: When Watched, All WC content | Demo: Total People | Metric: Reach (Broadcast 1 min, BVOD 15 secs)
Average Audience: VOZ National Total TV | Overnight | Demo: Total People | Metric: Average Audience
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Note the above are the preliminary numbers as posted in the ratings thread.
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As well as the final there is a third place play-ff on Sunday morning.
SBS schedule has been updated.
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But the success of the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup could make it harder for SBS to retain the rights to the tournament in full and for free in future, says SBS’ director of sport Ken Shipp. A decades-long relationship with the sport’s governing body does work in its favour, he says.
Shipp, who has spent some time with FIFA executives during the tournament, said he “can’t deny we have been looking at the next event (in 2030)”, but that no discussions have taken place and the focus remains on the tournament that is still ongoing.
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Millions rise before dawn to watch FIFA World Cup 2026™ semi-finals on SBS
England v Argentina attracted a Total TV reach of almost 3.4 million on Thursday morning
Some 2.4 million tuned into the match between Spain and France on Wednesday
More than 60% of Australians have now watched the tournament as cumulative reach tops 17.4 million
Millions of Australian football fans are finishing a long working week today after tuning in pre-dawn to SBS’s broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ semi-finals on Wednesday and Thursday morning.
An impressive 3.39 million* (VOZ Total TV reach) watched Argentina defeat England 2-1 yesterday (16 July) to progress to the World Cup final where they will meet Spain on Monday morning at 5am AEST. This was the seventh biggest reach of the tournament. The Total TV average audience was 1.87 million and more than 64% watched the match On Demand.
On Wednesday, 2.37 million tuned in to see Spain defeat France 2-0 in the first semi-final (average audience of 1.26 million), which also topped the daily VOZ rankings.
Fifteen matches have now reached more than two million during the tournament, including three matches that have topped four million viewers.
The continued strength of these audiences demonstrates Australians’ enduring appetite for the FIFA World Cup, even after the Socceroos’ campaign came to an end.
Attention now turns to the tournament’s final two matches as France play England in the third-place play-off on Sunday (19 July) at 7am AEST, while Spain and Argentina prepare for the ultimate showdown on Monday (20 July) at 5am AEST.
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SBS took the world feed for the playoff for “bronze”. That included a half time break with a crawler and no commentary. After the game the ceremony was shown then it was straight into repeats of previous games.
The final Cup Fever is tonight - main channel and Viceland simulcast.
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Very sad to see the end of Cup Fever on SBS.
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It’s odd the final episode isn’t tomorrow night to wrap up the final.
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But each episode has been like a preview for upcoming matches so same with this one.
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I agree - they spend the first half of the show talking about that day’s games. The final deserves a post-match show.
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Cup Fever could easily air on Viceland tomorrow night (and on the main channel after the World Cup Final replay), to get those extra eyeballs tuning in.
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