More than 70% of Russians watched the World Cup round of 16 game between hosts Russia and Spain on Monday, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed on Wednesday.
The match was held at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium and ended in the first penalty shootout of this year's tournament, with the hosts eventually salvaging a dramatic victory thanks to two saves by Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
According to the results of the poll, a total of 71% of the respondents watched the match, which is a record number of viewers since the World Cup kick-off.
While 68% of the respondents followed the game at home or at work, just one percent watched it at the Fan Zone or at the stadium.
The pollster added that almost half of the respondents hoped that Russia would beat Spain and that now 17% of them believe that the national team could win the tournament, which is more than twice as many Russians as after the team's 3-0 defeat to Uruguay during the group stage.
Russia are set to face Croatia in their first-ever World Cup quarter-final match in Sochi on Sunday.
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