99.6 percent of TV viewers in Iceland watched World Cup opener vs. Argentina
Nearly every single television viewer in Iceland was tuned in to the nation's World Cup-opening 1-1 draw against Argentina on Saturday, according to the Football Association of Iceland:
99,6% of all people in Iceland watching TV during #ARGISL at @FIFAWorldCup were watching the match. That is some statistic. #fyririsland https://t.co/w8WNGpDoi9
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) June 18, 2018
The stunning statistic prompted a joke from striker Alfred Finnbogason:
The other 0,4% was on the pitch! pic.twitter.com/FNtzRKTlrp
— Alfreð Finnbogason (@A_Finnbogason) June 18, 2018
It's a good crack, but Finnbogason slightly misinterpreted the stat. The numbers only measure people who were watching TV during the match. Of them, 99.6 percent watched Iceland-Argentina and 0.4 percent watched something else. Maybe they simply fell asleep with the TV on a different channel.
Remarkably, 99.6 percent of viewers isn't even a record. During Iceland's shocking win over England in the Euro 2016 round of 16, 99.8 percent of TV viewers were tuned in.
There are 350,710 people in Iceland, according to the most recent estimate.