Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been the talk of the town this World Cup.
His inclusion as an analyst for FOX Sports has proven to be a shrewd move for the broadcaster, who paid $485 million for the English-language broadcast rights for the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
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Hosted by Rebecca Lowe, Ibrahimovic is part of a panel which features World Cup winner Thierry Henry and former USMNT defender Alexi Lalas.
Many viral moments have come from their tournament coverage, usually involving the Swede throwing some sort of shade at Lalas, or when showcasing his football skills with one of the very best forwards in Premier League history in Henry.
But this time, Lowe appeared to be on the end of a dig from Zlatan.
On air for Spain’s 2-0 victory over tournament favorites France, he highlighted French defender Maxence Lacroix, who was forced into action when William Saliba went down with a back injury in the first half.
“Maxence Lacroix. Crystal Palace legend. Not difficult to be,” he said.
Of course, Lowe is an avid fan of the South London club, who won the UEFA Europa Conference League last season – the first European trophy in the club’s history.
Lacroix played a pivotal role in then-manager Oliver Glasner’s back line, making 55 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals – two of which came in their run to European glory – and notching an additional three assists.
In the World Cup, though, he has been the third choice centre-back behind Saliba and Dayot Upamecano, though he played all 90 minutes in a 4-1 win over Norway in the Group Stage, albeit because the departing Didier Deschamps rotated his squad having already won Group I by that point.
It was a disappointing display from Les Bleus, who lacked any real conviction going forward despite a star-powered front-line spearheaded by their talisman – and current Golden Boot leader -Kylian Mbappe, along with Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele, and Desire Doue.
In the end, Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty and a neat finish from Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro in the second half was all Spain needed to book their place in their first World Cup final since 2010, with them awaiting either England or defending champions Argentina.
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Fox ratings have justified $485m spend
It was a huge gamble for Fox to spend so much money on the broadcasting rights for the US, but it is one that has ultimately paid dividends.
According to data from Nielsen, via The Hollywood Reporter, all four quarterfinal matches topped the previous English-language high for a World Cup quarterfinal in the United States.
England’s clash against Norway led the way with 21.8 million viewers, which could perhaps be partly attributed to the States’ new-found obsession with Erling Haaland, though all four games brought in over 9.87 million in average viewers.
For comparison, France’s win over England in 2022 delivered 8.86 million viewers was the previous high.
Only three broadcasts have averaged more viewers on an English-language network than that European clash – the 2015 United States-Japan Women’s World Cup Final (22.32 million), and the USMNT’s two knockout stage matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina (26.395 million) and Belgium (33.09 million).
Fox averaged 15.64 million viewers for the quarterfinals of this year’s tournament, which is a 150 percent increase from the 202 tournament which brought in an average of just 6.25 million viewers.
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On English-language TV in the US, this year’s World Cup now accounts for nine of the 23 largest football (or soccer) audiences ever between all five USMNT matches, England-Mexico, Argentina-Cape Verde, and Saturday’s two quarterfinals (England-Norway and Argentina-Switzerland).
Furthermore, it also accounts for the top 12 World Cup audiences ever on Spanish-language television on Telemundo and Peacock.
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