Even if they should be read with caution, the audiences for the French team's matches are excellent in this World Cup in Qatar, while the quarter-final against England on Saturday promises to be even more followed. .
Since the start of the playoffs, the enthusiasm has grown even more around the Blues.
The winter period and the decision of many cities to boycott a controversial event do not, however, contribute to making the streets very festive.
Although the Blues have been staying in Qatar for three good weeks, and they do not intend to return home immediately, they have not cut the link with the motherland.
"If I believe the newcomers from France, it's a team that pleases", thus dropped Guy Stéphan on Tuesday at a press conference, two days after the knockout round of the World Cup nicely controlled against Poland (3 -1) and four before the enticing quarter against England.
For the outward signs of fervor, we will probably wait for a disputed edition in the summer, with full terraces and banners in the streets, even if Moroccan fans do not ask themselves these kinds of questions.
But the faithful assistant of Didier Deschamps can rely on figures: according to Médiamétrie, 14.32 million viewers on average (i.e. 68.9% audience share) watched Kylian Mbappé and his family dominate the band to Robert Lewandowski on TF1 (beIN Sports, which broadcasts all the matches of the World Cup, does not communicate its figures).
A record for 2022.
“We are very happy with the audiences, assures Julien Millereux, director of sports for the TF1 group.
Over the first four games of the Blues, we had 11.8 million viewers on average compared to 11.1 million in 2018 in Russia.
More than 50 million French people have already watched the World Cup at this stage.
Many elements make the comparison difficult but we are extremely happy with the powerful and unifying side of this competition.
»
The “elements” in question?
The matches are played in November-December, in a raclette-tisane atmosphere less conducive to leisure than the traditional barbecue-rosé period of June-July.
Zizou's headbutt in the 2006 final?
Seen live from the garden of a friend, in the middle of about thirty guests of which we only knew perhaps a third.
Pavard's volley against Argentina in the 8th round, in 2018?
Lived by a friend's pool, a hopped drink in hand.
Every vivid memory of our life in Blue is associated with an image of a sunny summer (yes, I'm from the South, as one of our most eminent artists sings), not the current winter vibe with plaid and/or cat on the knees.
Another “element”, Médiamétrie now calculates its audiences differently, by including for the first time viewings outside the home or on mobile devices.
The cafes are there too
This “yes but” should not, however, hide the observation of a growing enthusiasm, also felt in bars and restaurants, according to Laurent Lutse, of Umih (Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry).
“At first, it was a bit shy, but since the round of 16, it's really gone, says the national president of the cafes, brasseries and nightlife branch of the employers' union.
We know very well that when there is football and the French team passes this milestone of the 8th, the establishments which broadcast the matches can make between 30 and 40% of additional turnover.
»
"To miss the World Cup, you have to live in a cave or in Lapland," smiles Fabian Tosolini.
This faithful member of the Irrésistibles Français (IF) pushed behind the Blues to the title in 2018 in Russia.
This time, he didn't make the trip and doesn't even watch the matches.
He is one of those boycotting an event that is not really centered on respect for human rights and the environment.
Not easy to boycott
"It's hard, but I stick to it," he says.
The values that this World Cup represents are really not mine.
Saturday, I don't know how I'm going to do so much we're going to talk about the quarter-final everywhere.
Maybe I'll go to the cinema.
In any case, whether you are passionate about this World Cup or not, everything is currently happening indoors in mainland France, with weather that only makes ski resorts and climate skeptics jubilant.
From experience, Fabian Tosolini knows that “the French supporter really begins to fall in love with his team when it arrives in the playoffs.
It will increase in pressure on Saturday and it can be madness in the half and why not in the final.
»
Moreover, the youngest of her daughters, aged 13, “cracked down on Sunday when she had followed me for the pool matches”.
"I'm willing to bet that cities that explained to us yesterday that we had to boycott and not put up giant screens will bow to pressure from their constituents," adds Fabien Tosolini with a pretty touch of irony.
A few screens are indeed beginning to sprout, here and there.
Nevers and Charleville-Mézières will thus launch this Saturday.
Amiens had considered it, before retracting in order “to avoid creating large gatherings which could promote the transmission of the Covid” (nice time, really).
Châteauroux and Saint-Nazaire will embrace in case of presence of France in the semi-finals.
In Mende, it has already been done since the match against Poland, broadcast at the Georges-Frêche event space.
“It was not folichon for the 8th finals, with a hundred people on a Sunday at 4 p.m., recognizes Laurent Suau, the mayor of the capital of Lozère, who remembers the 1,000 spectators during the coronation of the Blues against to Croatia in 2018. It will go up little by little.
I am convinced that Saturday night against England, there will be many more people.
»
Watch the matches “together” and in the warmth
The Mendois city councilor is not in line with the boycott-favorite metropolises, from Paris to Lyon via Lille, even if he easily recognizes that the grievances against Qatar are “justified”.
“The discussion on the attribution of this World Cup was twelve years ago that it was necessary to have it, not today, he objects.
For us, sport is really a vector of social cohesion in a city of 13,000 inhabitants.
This makes it possible to live in a peaceful city and I cultivate that.
Then we are in the mid-mountain, between 700 and 900 m altitude, it is winter, it was -7°C this morning [Thursday].
Unlike a World Cup that takes place in June-July, we don't have café terraces.
I claim that we can offer this room, where people can meet to watch the match together, in a place where it is not cold.
»
600 km further north, at the headquarters of TF1, the landscape is radically different, but not the discourse.
“The World Cup is a unifying event, a factor of social cohesion, as we come out of the Covid and there is not only good news in the world”, understates Julien Millereux, for whom the support of the French for their national team did not rise again during the group stages in Doha.
“I attended France – Austria [2-0, September 22] and there was a great atmosphere at the Stade de France, assures the sports director.
It was a precursor to the current craze.
In addition, we have a generation full of freshness, with players who were not necessarily intended to be holders, stars like Kylian [Mbappé], Giroud and Lloris who are breaking records.
»
He is "THE LAST WEAPON", the only man who can stop wars, eradicate poverty, and catch up with Kylian Mbappé.
Kyle "superman" Walkerhttps://t.co/ml5AEzRPZo
— J.Laloye (@Zonemixte) December 7, 2022
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners
I ACCEPT
And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
The “boycotter” Fabien Tosolini adheres to the thesis: “This team exudes real sympathy.
She went through a number of difficulties with the withdrawals of executives like Kanté, Pogba, [Lucas] Hernandez or Benzema.
She was united, it is felt and it is shared by the French.
»
This team enters hearts and homes, where it brings welcome warmth in these times of a thermostat stuck at 19°C.
Everything seems to be in place for the fervor to rise crescendo on Saturday against the armada of Kyle Walker, the lethal anti-Mbappé weapon according to our neighbors across the Channel.
“For a France – England, in football as in rugby, there is still a rivalry, continues Julien Millereux.
It's a prestigious poster, a quarter-final.
We don't have a precise figure in mind, but the more we advance in the competition, the more the audiences are destined to go up a notch.
A little more, and we will go out into the squares and into the streets to celebrate as in July.
Just a little more covered.
Sport
World Cup 2022: The Blues again exploded the hearings against Poland
Sport
World Cup 2022: Zapper or subdue, no more advanced football fans?
World Cup 2022
Sport
Soccer
Qatar
France football team
TV audience
TF1