Parting Schotts

U.S. soccer team's dramatic win scores for ESPN

The United States' dramatic 1-0 victory over Algeria on Wednesday that advanced the team to the World Cup Soccer round of 16 is the highest-rated and most-watched soccer game in the history of ESPN, the cable network announced Thursday.

The game earned a 4.6 rating (4.0 household U.S. rating), 4,582,000 households and 6,161,000 viewers for the two-hour contest that started at 10 a.m.

The previous households record was set last Friday with the U.S.-Slovenia match – 3,906,000.

Excluding holidays, ESPN's coverage of the U.S.-Algeria game ranks as the most-watched weekday morning telecast ever for ESPN, surpassing the U.S.-Germany World Cup match on June 21, 2002 (4.4 rating and 5,335,000 viewers).

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