Brazil 2014: 4m Belgians watched Belgium-USA; highest TV ratings since 1997

The Belgium - USA (2-1 aet) match in the round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup (Brazil, from 12/06 to 13/07/2014) was watched by 4,034,293 Belgians (on average from 22:00 CET 01/07/2014 to 00:30 the next day), the Belgian press reported on 02/07/2014. This constitutes a new TV ratings record for Belgian television; 36.2% of the country's 11.1m population tuned in to see their team qualify for the quarter-finals.

1,667,728 tuned in to the French language public TV channel RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge Francophone), for an 85.1% audience share. "This is the highest since ratings first began to be measured in 1997 [in Belgium]," said Bruno Deblander, RTBF spokesperson, on 02/07/2014.

94,163 people watched the match on RTBF's Internet website.

2,366,565 viewers watched the game on Sporza, a channel from the Flemish language public broadcaster VRT, for an 85.4% audience share. This beats the channel's previous record on 02/03/1997, when 2.27m viewers tuned in for a variety programme. VRT ratings peaked at 91.9% audience share at 23:48 CET on 01/07/2014 with 2,517,500 viewers.

• Seven European TV…