More than 400,000 people watched the opening match of the World Cup in open-air fan parks in South Africa and around the globe, in addition to the nearly 90,000 in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, officials said on Saturday.
Soccer's ruling body FIFA said 300,000 watched the opening match on Friday at fan parks in the host nation, now consumed by World Cup fever and patriotic fervour, while another 100,000 viewed the South Africa-Mexico 1-1 draw in fan parks in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.
The biggest audience of 75,000 was in two of the Johannesburg fan parks in the township of Soweto and the glitzy shopping district of Sandton.
But they were rivalled by the 50,000 people who watched in Mexico City.
Many foreign fans have travelled to South Africa for the month-long tournament without tickets, to enjoy the tournament on giant screens in the fan parks.
