Germany’s opening 2-1 victory over Canada generated record television ratings for a women’s football match in the World Cup host country and left Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel trailing.
State network ARD said on Monday that 14.09 million viewers watched Sunday’s broadcast, for a market share of 58%.
The previous record was 10.48 million for the 2003 World Cup final in which Germany beat Sweden.
Vettel’s latest success in Valencia, Spain, earlier Sunday was watched by 6.35 million fans, a marker share of 38.3 per cent.
However, the women’s opener trailed the ratings the men’s team had in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when 28.03 million fans watched the 4-0 victory over Australia.
The women’s World Cup runs until July 17 in nine German cities.
The German game in Berlin’s Olympic stadium on Sunday drew a European record attendance of 73,680.