Univision's coverage of the FIFA 2010 round-of-16 match between Mexico and Argentina on Sunday was the most-watched Spanish-language telecast in U.S. history.
Kicking off at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on June 27, the match, in which Argentina eliminated Mexico 3-1, averaged 9.36 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. El Tri was also defeated by the Argentines in the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, that time in extra time.
The telecast, which featured a controversial opening goal where Argentina's Carlos Tevez appeared to be offsides before heading the ball into the net, now ranks as the network's top show, regardless of genre, and the single most-watched show in the history of Spanish-language in the United States, according to network officials.
The Mexico-Argentina telecast also scored big across all key demos, attracting 5.59 million adults 18 to 49, 3.32 million persons 18 to 34 and 4.19 million persons 12 to 34.
Univision stations' coverage of Mexico-Argentina attracted the highest viewership for the tournament thus far in key demos and markets across the nation, including Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Dallas among total viewers, adults 18 to 49, persons 18 to 34 and 12-34.
On ABC, the Mexico-Argentina match drew a 3.9 national overnight rating, translating to an estimated 6 million viewers, the most for the Alphabet network in this tournament for a game not involving the U.S. national team.
Univision Interactive Media attracted more than 12.4 million page views and over 1.6 million visits from fans across all platforms the day of the Argentina-Mexico match. Additionally, the game generated more than 72,000 peak simultaneous streams on UnivisionFutbol.com.
Univision also registered sizable audiences with the other three round-of-16 matches through June 27, headed by the 4.51 million viewers for the June 26 U.S.-Ghana battle, which now qualifies as No. 10 all-time on the network's list of soccer broadcasts and the best for a World Cup match involving the American side. For the 2010 FIFA tourney from South Africa, U.S.-Ghana is the fifth most-watched game among total viewers, adults 18 to 49 and persons 18 to 34 to date, said Univision officials.
Elsewhere, Sunday's telecast of Germany's 4-1 win over England at 10 a.m. netted 3.67 million viewers, while the morning match on Saturday, in which Uruguay ousted South Korea, scored with 2.57 million viewers on average.
With a large composition of Latino viewers, Univision could be poised for big Nielsens for the balance of the tournament. Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, a 3-0 winner over Chile on June 28, have all made the quarterfinals and will be joined by the Portugal-Spain winner and perhaps Paraguay, which is favored over Japan in the June 29 contest, which kicks off at 10 a.m.
