Sunday’s World Cup final most-watched soccer match in U.S.

By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer

Argentina’s dramatic victory over France in penalty kicks in the World Cup final has become the most-watched soccer match of any kind in the United States. Nielsen and Fox released the “match only” rating on Wednesday that showed an English- and Spanish-language total combined audience of 26,726,000. The numbers include 4.24 million that watched via streaming. The updated total narrowly edges the 26.7 million that tuned in to the 2015 Women’s World Cup final, when the U.S. beat Japan 5-2 in a match that aired in prime time for most of the United States because the tournament was held in Canada.