The broadcaster's live coverage of the opening game in Kazan, Russia, was the  most watched program of the night in Australia.

At the viewer friendly time of 8pm (AEST) it came in as the 9th highest FTA program nationally so far this year.

On Saturday night, 3.4 million (metro + regional reach) Aussies tuned in to SBS to see the Socceroos hold the World's No.7 ranked team struggle to breakdown a disciplined Green and Gold defence.

A late deflected Paul Pogba goal and a VAR-assisted penalty from Antoine Griezmann sealed the win for Les Bleus over Bert van Marwijk's men. Among the highlights, the youngest player at the tournament, Socceroo Daniel Arzani, made his World Cup debut.

The live broadcast of the match averaged 2.1 million (total people metro + regional), peaking at 2.7 million around the middle of the second half when scores were level, and achieved 44.9% Metro FTA Share and 33.1% Regional FTA Share.

To date, SBS's coverage of Russia 2018, including live matches (RUS v KSA, POR v ESP, FRA v AUS), match replays, pre- and post-match analysis and daily highlights program, FIFA World Cup Today, has reached a total of 4.3 million Australians.

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