2026 World Cup/France: 14 M viewers for France-Senegal on M6, best World Cup opener audience since 2014

France - Senegal (3-1), on Matchday 1 of the 2026 World Cup group stage (Group I), drew an average of 13.99 million viewers on the private free-TV channel M6, on Tuesday 16 June 2026 (kick-off at 21:00 CET), according to data from the audience measurement institute Médiamétrie.

This figure represented an audience share of 61.4%. It is the best audience for a French national team’s opening match at a World Cup since 2014 (France - Honduras, 15.84 million viewers and an audience share of 57% on TF1, on 15 June 2014), according to M6. The channel also recorded its highest audience for 2026. The match was also broadcast live on the pay-TV channel beIN SPORTS 1, whose audience figures were not released.

During the 2022 World Cup, the French national teams' opening match against Australia (4-1) drew an average of 12.53 million viewers on the free-TV channel TF1 on Tuesday 22 November 2022 (kick-off at 20:00 CET). Audience share: 48.1% (Médiamétrie data). The match was also broadcast on beIN SPORTS 1.

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