World Cup notebook: US win over Iran draws 15.5M on US broadcasts

The United States' 1-0 win over Iran that earned the Americans a berth in the World Cup knockout rounds was seen by nearly 15.5 million people on U.S. English- and Spanish-language broadcasts and digital streams.

The game, which kicked off off at 2 p.m. EST Tuesday, was viewed by 12,013,000 on Fox, including 954,004 digital streams, the most for a World Cup match for the network. That was up from 521,715 streams for the 0-0 draw between U.S. and England on Black Friday and 511,822 for the Americans’ opening 1-1 tie with Wales on Nov. 21.

Tuesday's Spanish-language telecast was seen by 2.34 million on Telemundo, and an additional 1.12 million viewed the stream on Telemundo digital and Peacock.

The three U.S. group stage matches averaged 11.7 million, up 10% from an average of 10,622,000 for the trio of matches on ESPN in 2014.

The U.S.-England game on Black Friday was viewed by 20.6 million in English and Spanish, including broadcast and digital.

The match was seen by 18,730,350 on English- and Spanish-language U.S. televisions, according to Nielsen, making it the second-most-watched U.S. World Cup game since 1994 — behind the 2-2 draw with Portugal at 19,757,173. It was also fourth-most-watched men’s World Cup game since 1994 involving any team.

The Black Friday game drew 15,490,597, the most for an English-language telecast of a U.S. men’s World Cup game dating to 1994.

In addition, the game was streamed by 521,715 on Fox in English, and 1.27 million on Telemundo and Peacock in Spanish.

The U.S.'s opening 1-1 draw with Wales on Nov. 21 was viewed by 11.7 million.

Telemundo and Peacock are divisions of NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast Corp.

Final day of group features Brazil, Portugal

Brazil and Portugal already advanced into the knockout round so the focus on the final day of World Cup group play should be on the six other teams trying to avoid elimination.

Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, South Korea, Ghana and Uruguay all have a chance on Friday to reach the last 16.

Alas, the spotlight will still be on Brazil and Portugal.

Both teams need to either win or draw in their games to guarantee top spot in their respective groups and avoid a head-to-head match in the knockout round.

Frappart makes history as 1st female ref

French referee Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup game on Thursday as she blew her whistle to start Germany’s game against Costa Rica.

Frappart also had two women as assistants — Neuza Back of Brazil and Karen Diaz Medina of Mexico — to complete an all-female refereeing team on the field.

Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States was also working at the Al Bayt Stadium as the offside specialist in the video review team.

FIFA has two other women, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan, on its list to referee games at the tournament in Qatar.

Frappart had been picked previously for duties as the fourth official.

The 38-year-old Frenchwoman was promoted in the men’s game by European soccer body UEFA and in her home country and she has already refereed men’s games in World Cup qualifying and the Champions League. She also took charge of this year’s men’s French Cup final and the 2019 Women’s World Cup final for FIFA.

Martino out as Mexico coach

After the debacle of missing the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in 44 years, Mexico said Thursday that Argentine coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino will not return for the next tournament.

Martino was hired in January 2019 and finished his contract after the 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He said after the match that he was aware a contract extension with the Mexican soccer federation was unlikely.

“With a failure like this it is impossible for him to continue,” said Jaime Ordiales, Mexico's director of national teams. “I know he is a hard worker, I´ve seen him every day, but we work for the national team and the best thing to do right now is to look elsewhere.”

Brazil to decide on Neymar after Cameroon game

Brazil will reevaluate Neymar's condition and decide about his chances of playing again at this year's World Cup after Friday's game against Cameroon.

Neymar hurt his right ankle in the team's opener against Serbia and was ruled out for the rest of group stage. Also not playing against Cameroon because of injury were right back Danilo and left back Alex Sandro.

“They are progressing,” Brazil assistant coach Cléber Xavier said Thursday. “We are focused on the game against Cameroon, and then we will start the decision-making process about these players. We already have a plan prepared for their return.”

Xavier did not elaborate on the plan. Brazil team doctors have not yet given a timetable on Neymar’s return, or said if he would be back at all.

Messi fans from Asia cheer on Argentina

On their way to Argentina's decisive game against Poland, Mohit Daga and Aayush Verma approached the stadium carrying a massive painting of their heroes Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona with the World Cup trophy.

Daga had spent 17 days painting it. It weighed 5 kilograms (11 pounds). An offering. Anything for Messi, whom he described as a “God.”

“He is the epitome of everything. He is the source of inspiration and happiness,” said Daga, who is from Kolkata, India. "He brings happiness to our life.”

Argentina is finding a legion of passionate superfans from India, Bangladesh and other Asian countries at the World Cup in Qatar.

Thousands have traveled to the Gulf nation specifically to see Messi and his team with their own eyes, while many others are among migrant workers that make up about 90% of the emirate's population of 3 million.

Other fans cheered from afar. In Indonesia, social media showed hundreds of people celebrating Argentina's team’s 2-0 win over Poland after watching the game on large screens. They paraded on motorbikes waving flags after Argentina secured progress to the knockout stages. A newsreader wore an Argentina shirt during a broadcast.