New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) World Cup football fever has attracted huge Indian audience with the mega-event taking the most of the television and online space, according to a study by a market research company.

The report said this World Cup has witnessed higher viewership in comparison to the 2006 edition. The match between Portugal and Brazil had the highest rating while West Bengal had the highest number of viewership followed by Assam and Kerala. 

According to viewership data from Television Audience Measurement (TAM), this year around 53 million Indians are watching the World Cup with 29 percent of them watching all the matches of the tournament which began June 11.

"Amongst the top discussions, Christiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are the most talked about as noticed in social networking sites, blogs and microblogs. They are being followed by Lionel Messi and Landon Donovan," said Karthik Nagarajan, associate director, Online and IT Practice, The Nielsen. 

The report further stated that among teams, England is topping the chart in online discussions followed by Brazil and Spain. But it's Germany who has the backing of the Indians fans. 

"England was loved and hated, but hardly ignored in Indian social media last month. The manner of their exit and the 'Lampard goal' controversy was discussed widely. Germany has impressed one and all with their play in this World Cup and it is no surprise that the blogosphere has nice things to say about them," added Nagarajan.