Can't Resist the Final... France's Determination Disappeared After One Month

France, which joined the boycott over Qatar human rights issues before the World Cup opening,
sees a sharp rise in viewership as it reaches the final

On the 14th (local time), French soccer fans who won the 2022 Qatar World Cup semifinal gathered at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to celebrate. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The resolve of French football fans who boycotted the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to human rights violations is wavering. This is because France, breaking the jinx that the defending champion is eliminated early, has advanced to the final.

On the 18th (local time), France will clash with Argentina for the championship trophy at Lusail Stadium in Qatar. If France wins this match, it will achieve its third World Cup victory, following the 1998 France tournament and the 2018 Russia tournament. Additionally, France will become the third country in history, after Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962), to win back-to-back World Cups.

As France gets closer to winning, the World Cup match viewership ratings are also on the rise. According to TF1, which is broadcasting this tournament, a total of 20.69 million people watched the semifinal match between France and Morocco on the 14th. This is the highest level since 2016. Compared to the World Cup semifinal four years ago between France and Belgium (19.10 million), it secured about 1.59 million more viewers.

According to the ratings survey organization M?diam?trie, the viewership rating for ages 4 and above for this semifinal was 66%. This surpassed the 63% rating of the quarterfinal against England, which was the highest rating recorded this year.

On the 12th of last month (local time), during a Bundesliga match in Gelsenkirchen at the Veltins Arena, spectators hung a banner stating that they would boycott the Qatar World Cup. Photo by Yonhap News

Initially, France did not show much interest in this World Cup. This was because allegations arose that thousands of migrant workers lost their lives during Qatar's preparations to host the World Cup. Across Europe at the time, movements emerged to boycott the World Cup in protest of Qatar's human rights violations, and France joined that wave.

In October, just before the World Cup began, major French cities successively declared boycotts of public street broadcasts. Despite being the defending champion from the 2018 Russia World Cup, local governments, especially in large cities like Strasbourg, Lille, and Paris, announced boycott policies. According to the Associated Press, Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor in charge of sports for Paris at the time, stated, "Due to environmental and social conditions during the organization of this tournament, we decided not to hold public street broadcasts using large screens."

However, once the tournament started and France broke the jinx of defending champions performing poorly by advancing to the final, many football fans returned to their TVs.

According to France T?l?visions, Mr. Mikael, who had stopped watching football since Qatar capital invested in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), confessed that he started watching again after accidentally seeing a World Cup match in a restaurant.

He said he was inspired by the Netherlands vs. Argentina quarterfinal and came to a pub to watch the France vs. England match, comparing himself to a "drug addict." While watching the game, he felt alive with his whole body but was ashamed of betraying his conscience to boycott the Qatar World Cup. He said he donated to the international environmental organization Greenpeace that day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.