U.S. Women's World Cup Semifinal Earns Fox Its Biggest Audience Since the Empire Finale

The U.S. advanced to the final of the Women's World Cup with a 2-0 win over Germany last night, and the match resulted in big ratings for Fox. In fact, it set a Fox record for soccer, averaging 8.4 million viewers. It was the broadcast network's highest-rated program among adults 18-49 since the season finale of Empire on March 18.

The match was close throughout, and Fox kept its audience and gained viewers as it went on—it started at 1.6 million viewers at 6:41 p.m. ET and peaked at a tournament-high 12.1 million from 8:30 to 8:45 p.m. Another 166,000 people streamed the match on Fox Sports Go, the largest authenticated streaming audience in the app's history. The game was also the most-watched World Cup semifinal match ever—men's or women's—in the U.S., breaking the mark set by the 2006 Germany-Italy World Cup semifinal.

The U.S. faces the winner of tonight's Japan-England match. The final is Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Fox, which aims to break the record 18 million viewers who tuned in for the 1999 title game when the U.S. beat China 5-4 on penalties.