3.5 billion people watched the 2018 Russia World Cup

– A record number of spectators watched the last World Cup in Russia with more than 3.5 billion viewers, while the final between France and Croatia attracted 1.12 billion spectators, announced Friday. International Football Association (FIFA).

FIFA said that 3572 billion viewers, or more than half of the world's population aged four and over, had attended some of the official coverage of the tournament, broadcast live around the world, from June 14 to July 15th.

FIFA announced Friday to the press that the global audience had watched at least a minute of television of the tournament, or 3.3 billion viewers, an increase of 2.2% over the edition 2014 of Brazil.

Some 3097 million people watched the tournament on digital platforms or public venues for spectators or in bars and restaurants.

France's 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final, which gave France their second title after 1998, was the most watched match of the tournament.

Follow the defeat of England against Croatia in the semifinals and the other match at the same lap between Belgium and France.

"These figures really support the claim that the 2018 version of Russia was the best of all time," said Philippe Le Flock, FIFA's commercial director.

"The fact that half of the world's population attended the tournament not only reflects the high quality of live coverage, but also proves that fans around the world love high-level football."

The total number of viewers in the Asian continent was approximately 1.6 billion people, of which 6557 million or 18.4% of the total global audience in China, who did not failed to qualify for the finals.