The world is watching the beautiful game. It is doubtful any other event in history has attracted as many television viewers as this year's World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
At home, RTÉ said 943,000 people watched the Republic's last match against Spain - a quarter of the population - though an RTÉ spokesman said the actual figure was probably far higher as the data did not include the many thousands in pubs.
The ratings all around the globe have been spectacular from the first kick-off on May 31st, when an estimated 500 million people of the planet's six billion population watched Senegal beat France 1-0.
Fears of a ratings flop because of the time of the matches for audiences in Europe and the Americas, where they're aired in many places after midnight, have turned out to be unfounded.
Theories abound about why this World Cup has been more popular than ever among viewers, why city streets are becoming empty and work grinds to a virtual halt when matches start. Some observers have cited the tight matches and abundance of upsets, where small countries have knocked out football powers such as Argentina, France, Italy and Portugal.
The growth of the game and vast improvements in many Asian and African countries may be another factor making it a truly worldwide spectacle.
Others have suggested that aside from the spreading popularity of football, the unstoppable broader economic trend of globalisation has, for good or bad, brought nations closer together and the World Cup is seen as a tip on that iceberg.
In Brazil the biggest station, Globo, is scoring record ratings despite unsociable hours. For Brazil's match against Turkey at 6:00 a.m. local time, Globo's rating was a record market share of 94 per cent. Monday's match against Belgium had an 89 per cent share. Both far surpassed records set in 1989 by a popular soap opera.
Brazilians, used to watching games with frosty beers in hand, have opted for breakfast bashes instead. Civil servants are allowed to saunter in at noon.
Italy ground to a virtual halt for matches as people crowded around office and bar televisions. Some 23 million people watched Italy play Mexico, a record audience share of 90 per cent for state broadcaster RAI.
In Britain, the BBC said Saturday's 3-0 win over Denmark was watched by the second-largest television audience for 10 years - trailing only the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
Almost half of the 60,000 pubs extended hours so the public could enjoy a pint for breakfast with football. Last weekend pubs made an extra €100 million as fans drank 20 million more pints of beer than usual.
England's win against Denmark attracted the biggest Saturday lunchtime audience for five years - 16.8 million, not including those watching in pubs or workplaces.
In Spain, fans have been disappointed by the fact full coverage is only available through Via Digital, a satellite channel only 500,000 Spaniards receive. About 15 per cent of games are broadcast on terrestrial television. Sunday's tie with Ireland drew 13.2 million viewers, an audience share of nearly 90 percent.
But nowhere has the ratings surge been more noteworthy than in the United States. America's win over Mexico drew big audiences in English and Spanish, despite the 2.30 a.m. Eastern time start. Cable channel ESPN had three million viewers, triple the audience average during previous matches. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Network said its telecast reached over four million.
Shay Given was accorded a hero's welcome when he returned to his native Donegal last night. Over 6,000 people packed the centre of Lifford draped in tricolours. "I was expecting hundreds, not thousands of people, this is amazing," the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper said.
He recalled that it was not many years ago when he went around the town selling fruit and vegetables. Last night he was described as "the greatest goalkeeper in the world".
