The United States men’s national team turned a Friday afternoon match into must-see TV with an overnight rating of 14.78 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

The USMNT’s 2-0 victory over Australia was the fourth largest watched match in the men’s World Cup on English-language television.

The viewership for Friday’s game trailed last week’s USMNT opener against Paraguay, which attracted 18.04 million viewers and was the largest audience ever for the national team.

The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France drew 16.78 million viewers while the 2022 World Cup match between the USMNT and England had 15.38 million viewers.

Two United States women’s national team games had bigger audiences than Friday’s USMNT match: 1999 Women’s World Cup final (18.0 million) and 2015 Women’s World Cup final (22.3 million).

Friday’s USMNT-Australia audience peaked at 19.17 million viewers in the second half.

The USMNT’s final group stage match will return to primetime in a duel against Turkey on Thursday. The United States has already clinched the top spot in Group D and will play their first knockout game July 1 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent in Santa Clara, Calif.

–Field Level Media