World Cup final draws massive audience, sets TV mark

Argentina and France put on a classic at the World Cup final on Sunday, as the defending champions came roaring back down two goals to force extra time as the match eventually went into penalties.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe put on a dramatic showing in the final moments of the match. Messi had two goals and Mbappe had a hat trick. In the end though, it was Argentina who got a big boost from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the penalty shootout to help win the match.

The match drew in a historic audience on FOX and FOX Sports, thanks in part to the late-match dramatics and, in the U.S., the start of NFL Sunday was around the corner.

FOX Sports said Tuesday that 16,783,000 viewers tuned in to watch the final and that it was the “most-watched men’s World Cup telecast in English-language television history, topping USA vs. England in the 2002 Group Stage.”

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Mbappe became the second men’s player to score goals in back-to-back World Cups. Vava did it in 1958 and 1962.

For Messi, he picked up the trophy that has eluded him for his entire career in what was likely his last chance to do it. He left it all on the field and put the squad on his back to deliver the country’s first title since 1986.

Messi won the Golden Ball Award.