Around 40 per cent of the Maltese population tuned in to watch the World Cup quarter-finals, telecoms company Melita said on Wednesday, although the number could be a lot higher.

Their evaluation shows that around 200,000 people (38.7% of the total population) watched the World Cup quarter-finals, with the England v France match alone seeing 135,000 viewers (26.1%).

The World Cup is being aired on public broadcasting station TVM, which is free-to-air. 

Melita's calculation encompasses all local TV viewers, not just its own service subscribers, and is just an estimation.

The company believes the number of people who followed the World Cup matches could be far higher, “since most popular sports games are often watched in bars or bigger groups.”

Roughly 120,000 people tuned in to Morocco’s surprise victory over Portugal, with Melita expecting more viewers to watch Wednesday evening's semifinal clash between Morocco and defending champions France.

“Local viewers have been very excited about the World Cup as the tournament has thrown up a few surprises with some unexpected countries taking centre stage. We are expecting interest to intensify as we approach the final,” Melita head of marketing Mireille Muscat said.

France v Morocco

Morocco's toppling of Portugal on Saturday was arguably the biggest upset of the World Cup so far. But they will be looking to go one further when they face World Cup holders France in the semi-finals.

Morocco is the first African and Arab team to ever make it to the World Cup final four, having beaten Spain on penalties and then Portugal in the knockout stage after topping their group ahead of Croatia and Belgium.

“We can only have respect and admiration for what they have done, but nothing happens by chance at this level,” said France captain Hugo Lloris.

“They will be formidable opponents, and on top of that there will be a hostile atmosphere in the stadium.”