Record audience of nearly 14 million watched France's World Cup victory on M6

France's opening match in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, broadcast on M6, shattered audience records, attracting nearly 14 million viewers. The game, where France secured a 3-0 victory against Senegal with a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé, commanded an impressive 61.4% audience share.

This figure represents a substantial increase compared to the 2022 World Cup, where France's opening match drew 12.5 million viewers and a 48.1% share. The previous record for M6 during this World Cup was 4.8 million viewers for the match between Mexico and Africa.

In contrast, other channels struggled to compete. France 3's broadcast of the French TV film "La Fulgurée" attracted 1.9 million viewers (8.5% share), while TF1's rerun of "Monk, le retour" garnered 1.1 million viewers (4.7% share). France 2's airing of the play "Le Duplex" reached only 645,000 viewers (2.8% share).

The strong performance highlights the immense popularity of the French national football team and the World Cup in France, significantly outperforming other prime-time programming.