NEW YORK: Brands could extend their reach during the FIFA World Cup after more than half (56%) of American fans using the internet, who are also willing to share ads on their social networks, said they would do so to support a brand they like.

According to eMarketer's analysis of a survey conducted earlier this month by social platform Crowdtap, a further 54% said they would share "really great ads" with their family and friends.

Overall, 74% of US internet users watching the World Cup said they would use social media while watching matches and up to 42% intended to post updates and tweet about their favourite ads, although almost a third (30%) would do the same for their least favourite ads.

Enthusiasm among US fans has also been reflected in new TV viewing figures that have revealed record audiences at the half-way stage of the tournament.

The Platform for European Promotion of TV (PEPPTV), an association of TV broadcasters, announced a record number of 42.9m Brazilians tuned in to see their team's win over Croatia, MediaWeek reported.

And the US's first game against Ghana attracted more than 11m viewers, the highest-rated football match ever shown on sports network ESPN, and nearly 5m on a Spanish-language network.

Also, a peak of 20m watched England's match against Uruguay, the highest peak audience on any channel since the 2012 London Olympics.

It comes as Twitter reported more than 300m tweets about the World Cup so far, compared with the 150m tweets generated during the 16 days of the London 2012 Olympics.

Based on mentions on Twitter so far, the top five teams in the tournament are Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Croatia and the US.

Data sourced from eMarketer, MediaWeek; additional content by Warc staff