IRELAND’S WOMEN’S WORLD cup match against Canada yesterday set a new viewership record for a women’s team sporting event, according to RTÉ. 

Vera Pauw’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat against the Canadians after taking a promising early lead through a goal from captain Katie McCabe. 

Over 550,000 TV viewers tuned in for the game on RTÉ 2, making up 68.9% of the country’s audience share, the broadcaster said. 

The national broadcaster also said that there had been 234,883 live streams on RTÉ Player. 

“Ireland’s matches at the FIFA Women’s World Cup vs Australia and Canada have provided the top two live events of the year-to-date on RTÉ Player,” an RTÉ statement read, adding that the figures demonstrated a growth in the popularity of women’s sport.

“The streaming numbers and TV ratings from Wednesday’s game demonstrate the continuing support for the women’s national team as live audiences for women’s sport hit an all-time high.”

On RTÉ.ie the live blog with minute-by-minute updates from yesterday’s match received over 430,000 views. 

RTÉ Player has hosted over 750,000 streams of the World Cup since the competition began seven days ago.

Ireland’s final group match against Nigeria, which takes place at 11am next Monday 31 July. All coverage of the tournament will air across RTÉ2, RTÉ Player, 2FM, RTÉ.ie and RTÉ’s News channel. 

“Having been there every step of the way through a thrilling qualifying campaign, RTÉ will proudly continue its support of Vera Pauw’s team by bringing fans all the action from Down Under free-to-air this summer,” the statement said.