These were the viewership figures for the late-night World Cup clash between the Netherlands and Morocco: the most-watched program of the entire day

Pulse Sports Team 08:21 - 01 July 2026

The fact that the Netherlands-Morocco World Cup match was played in the middle of the Dutch night did not result in low viewership. On the contrary: despite the 3:00 AM kick-off time on Tuesday, June 30th, the match was the most-watched program of the entire day.

The Dutch national team's World Cup matches have drawn millions of viewers in recent weeks, which was understandable given the evening kick-off times in the Netherlands. The first late-night group stage match against Tunisia (1:00 AM) attracted over 1.6 million viewers. However, the Netherlands-Morocco clash garnered even more attention. According to the National Media Research, the viewership counter stopped at 2.943 million viewers on Tuesday night, making it by far the most-watched program of the entire day.

World Cup Dominates

Coming in second was another World Cup fixture, Ivory Coast vs. Norway. This match was also broadcast on NPO 1, but on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM. A much more favorable time slot than Netherlands-Morocco, yet it drew nearly 400,000 fewer viewers: 2,596,000. These two World Cup games were the only programs to attract over two million viewers. The France-Sweden match also made it into the top three, with 1,490,000 viewers. In the study, a viewer is defined as someone who 'watched the program for at least one continuous minute'.

The NOS pre-match show, 'WK Avond', and 'Vandaag Inside Oranje' at 9:55 PM completed the day's top five. The first program unrelated to the World Cup was the NOS Journaal at 8:00 PM on NPO 2, which drew over 1.2 million viewers, placing it sixth for the day.

Oranje Eliminated

All nearly three million viewers of the Netherlands-Morocco match witnessed Oranje's elimination after a penalty shootout. Due to the extended duration, the late-night fixture concluded in the early Dutch morning, well after sunrise.

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