Los Angeles - More than 19 million people watched the United States v Ghana World Cup soccer match on television in the US, making Saturday's game the most-watched soccer game in the country's history, according to figures released on Monday.The Nielsen Company said a record 19.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the match live on two networks, underlining the rising popularity of soccer in the United States.Ghana beat the US team 2-1 after extra time to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, eliminating the US in the second round of the tournament."This record viewership proves that soccer is as popular as it's ever been in the United States," said Stephen Master, vice-president of sports at The Nielsen Company."Between the rise of social networking and virtually unlimited access to the sport no matter where it's played in the world, this is the perfect environment for the game of soccer to thrive in the US", he said.The TV audience for the United States-Ghana match surpassed the 18.1 million record set by the Italy-Brazil World Cup final in 1994.Soccer is dwarfed as a spectator sport in the United States by football, baseball and basketball. Some 106.5 million American TV viewers watched the National Football League's Super Bowl championship in February, making it the most-watched US telecast ever in any genre.
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
Your Name
* Your Email
* Recipient's name
* Recipient's email
Your message
If you want to email this page to more than one person, just put a semicolon ";" between the email addresses. * = Compulsory
Yes - it's just back to daily life now
Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
View Results | Vote Archive
36% Yes - it's just back to daily life now
20% Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
33% No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
11% Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
Vote Archive
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.