We are now one week into group-stage play at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and there has been plenty of exciting action. Upsets like a 2-1 Italy win over Australia. Record-breaking performances like the 13-0 U.S. win over Thailand. And surprising performances like South Africa’s fight against China and Argentina’s 0-0 draw with Japan.

More countries are showing what’s possible when you invest in the women’s game. But the level of play isn’t the only aspect of the tournament that has grown. More people across the globe are tuning in to support their country or take in the joys of the tournament.

Over the first weekend of World Cup play — before the U.S. even kicked off — Fox Sports recorded a 79% rise in viewers compared to the first two match days of the 2011 World Cup and an 11% rise compared to the 2015 tournament, despite the less favorable time zone for American fans this time around. Views of online Women’s World Cup streaming content has seen a spike of 310% compared to 2015.

The U.S. isn’t alone. Countries on all continents are shattering previous viewership stats. That many of them are doing this during the group stage is all the more impressive, indicating we should expect a high ceiling as the tournament progresses. We haven’t even made it to the knockout stage yet, my friends.

The 2015 World Cup had a record-breaking 750 million collective people around the world watch. If early numbers are any indication, we should set a new record this time around. Here is a selection of TV viewership stats from around the globe after one week.

For the first time ever, Brazil’s main TV channel, Globo, is airing the Women’s World Cup. Giving the women their deserved prime TV spot has paid off — Brazil’s opening match against Jamaica averaged 19.7 million viewers! That puts Brazil in second for the highest domestic TV audience for a women’s game. The first, of course, was the U.S. v. Japan 2015 final.

"Futebol feminino não dá audiência". A #fifawwc está derrubando de vez esse clichê. A audiência da TV brasileiras para a estreia da seleção feminina foi simplesmente a 2ª maior da história da Copa feminina em todo o mundo. Será que ninguém quer ver mesmo? https://t.co/SFuR2IJWuz — dibradoras (@dibradoras) June 15, 2019

The host country was expected to impress on the field during the tournament and have the talent to make it all the way to the final. Their supporters are responding to the hype, showing up in droves at the stadium, bars and TV. In fact, 10.65 million watched France’s tournament opener against South Korea. Nearly half (48%) of all TVs in use were tuned into the match.

TV audience in France for #fifawwc opener last week: 10.65 million, 48% of all TVs in use were tuned to the match vs South Korea, previous high was 4.2m for 2015 quarterfinal. French men’s Euro 2020 qualifier vs Turkey drew 5.1m. French men 2018 WC group average: 10.2m. — Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) June 14, 2019

The previous high for a women’s national team match? 4.2 million watched the 2015 quarterfinal against Germany. For comparison, the French men saw a 2018 World Cup group average of 10.2 million.

Most watched women's soccer match ever in France https://t.co/hOBzGzf5CO — Charles Olney (@olneyce) June 10, 2019

United Kingdom

England’s opening match against Scotland was viewed by 6.1 million people on BBC, breaking the UK TV viewing figure record for women’s soccer.

Italy

The country that made significant investments in growing the women’s game is seeing results on the field and on TV. More than 3.5 million people in Italy watched their women take down Australia in the first match of group play. Viewers followed that with nearly 3 million tuning in for their second match against Jamaica.

Record di ascolti per le #Azzurre: oltre 3 milioni e mezzo di telespettatori per il match con l’Australia. Storico primato in Italia per una partita di calcio femminile ➡️ La News: https://t.co/N34kHY4ecW#RagazzeMondiali #FIFAWWC #CalcioFemminile pic.twitter.com/8FiKPADAHj — Nazionale Femminile di Calcio (@AzzurreFIGC) June 10, 2019

Argentina

After fighting for their federation to invest in the women’s game — and having it pay off with a World Cup berth — Argentina’s women are winning hearts and minds this tournament, putting in impressive performances: a 0-0 draw with Japan, and a narrow 1-0 defeat against England.

Their Friday match against England, where goalkeeper Vanina Correa put in a world-class performance, was well watched back at home. It is projected that 1.3 million people tuned in across the country.

MUNDIAL FEMENINO



Gran rating de Argentina 0 -Inglaterra 0 en el PT: pico de 6.6 puntos. Son 660 mil televidentes en CABA y GBA, proyectado en 1,3 millones en todo el país.



Así estaba el rating a las 16.48hs:



Telefe 6.7

TV Pública 6.6 ⚽️

eltrece 6.2

El Nueve 1.7

América 1.4 pic.twitter.com/T0LsMVdcGH — Lucas Beltramo (@LucasBeltramo) June 14, 2019

Ever since Netherlands won the 2017 UEFA EURO competition, the Dutch fans have been enthusiastically behind their women — selling out World Cup qualifying matches and friendlies. They sent a large contingent of exuberant fans to the World Cup and are showing up back at home. Their opening match against New Zealand — falling at a poor afternoon time slot at home — averaged 1.6 million viewers and peaked at 2.2 million viewers, making it the most watched broadcast of the day.

Dutch and Swedish TV stats: pic.twitter.com/Tg2WSC5krf — Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) June 12, 2019

As noted in the tweet above, on Sweden’s free-to-air broadcaster TV4, Sweden v. Chile produced an average audience of 975,875, peaking at 1.293 million. The match attracted the day’s highest audience on Swedish TV, outperforming all other programs.

China

According to data provided by FIFA, China’s opening match was aired live by CCTV and averaged 12 million viewers. These viewership numbers broke the previous record for a Women’s World Cup match, which was set in 2015 when China faced the U.S. in the quarterfinals. That game had 8.5 million viewers.

Germany

More than 6 million people watched Germany’s 1-0 win over Spain, which was more than Germany’s most popular news broadcast, Tagesschau. Germany’s opening win over China also scored an impressive 4.38 million viewers. This wasn’t a record for the Germans, but it was around two-and-a-half times the typical audience for that time slot. If they keep advancing, Germany certainly has the potential to see their TV viewership numbers soar.

: 9.83 million TV viewers for #FRAKOR (record)

: 6.1 million TV viewers for #GERESP

: 6.1 million TV viewers for #ENGSCO (record)



The world is watching the Women's World Cup



By @ftamsuthttps://t.co/ZI2HlrCQdb — DW Sports (@dw_sports) June 14, 2019

Spain

Spain hasn’t broken any records yet, but nearly 900,000 Spanish viewers watched the Spain vs. South Africa World Cup game. The peak viewing figure was 1.3 million — 14.7% of market share. Spain set a record during the 2015 World Cup — their first-ever — but they only need about 100,000 more viewers to break it this time around. Should they advance, they certainly can get there.

Australia

Australia’s opening match against Italy attracted 570,000 viewers on average, beating the previous high for the World Cup — 345,000 tuned in for the 2015 quarterfinal between Australia and Japan.

As we head into the knockout rounds, more people will tune into the thrilling matchups. Here’s to many more records getting broken as the tournament progresses.