History of television! Ferran's goal makes Spain world champion for the second time in a final that breaks all audience records

The goal by Ferran Torres that gave Spain its second star in the 2026 World Cup not only unleashed the euphoria of millions of fans but also turned the final against Argentina into one of the biggest television events in recent history. The broadcast kept the entire country on edge and achieved extraordinary figures, especially during extra time, which boosted viewership to unprecedented levels.

On La 1, the match registered an average of 14,425,000 viewers and a 75.1% audience share, while extra time further increased viewership, reaching a 77.6% share, with an average of 14,425,000 viewers and 15,793,000 unique viewers who tuned in for the outcome of the match.

If the broadcasts on La 1, Teledeporte, La 2 Cataluña, and DAZN are added together, the final gathered an average of 15,385,000 viewers, achieved a spectacular 86.3% audience share, and was followed by 19,168,000 unique viewers, becoming the most-watched broadcast of Sunday.

Extra time, where Ferran's decisive goal came, further boosted television consumption by bringing together an average of 16,608,000 viewers, an 89.3% share (89.4% according to the audience aggregate), in addition to 18,120,000 unique viewers, figures that place it as the second most-watched event in the history of television in Spain (only behind the penalty shootout of the Euro 2012 semifinal between Spain and Portugal, with an average of 18.1 million viewers but an 83.3% audience share).

Furthermore, it becomes the most-watched broadcast of the last eight years, surpassing the Spain-Russia match of the 2018 World Cup (14,829,000 viewers and an 81.1% share on Telecinco), and enters among the seven most-followed broadcasts on Spanish television since 2010.

The final also provided the golden minute of Sunday. It occurred at 00:01 hours, coinciding with the outcome of the match, when 17,082,000 viewers were simultaneously following the broadcast across La 1, Teledeporte, La 2 Catalunya, and DAZN Mundial, which translated into a spectacular 91.2% audience share.

On the other hand, the extraordinary following of the final boosted La 1 to a 45.5% screen share for the entire day, an unattainable figure for the rest of the channels, which recorded some of the worst figures in their recent history. Antena 3 stayed at 5.7%, Telecinco dropped to 3.67%, Cuatro scored 3.5%, La 2 a 2.7% and laSexta a 2.4%, evidencing the enormous impact that the World Cup final had on television consumption and RTVE's absolute dominance throughout the day.

In any case, it was an unforgettable night for Spaniards in which we were able to see our country conquer the world again and in which television once again demonstrated the enormous power of convocation that our national team has.