Seoul, South Korea ? Soccer fans around the United States stayed up late to watch America’s 1-1 tie against South Korea in the World Cup, setting another ratings record for the sport on ESPN2.

The game, which started at 2:30 a.m. EDT Monday, got a 1.62 cable rating and was seen in an average of 1.36 million households, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

The previous high for ESPN2 was 1.26 million households for a first-round Women’s World Cup game between the United States and North Korea on June 27, 1999. ESPN said Monday’s game was watched by about 918,000 men aged 18-34, the most-watched program from 1-6 a.m. EDT among that group on a cable network with advertising since records began in August 1991.

ESPN2’s first 25 broadcasts are averaging a 0.64 cable rating and 540,000 households, 61/2 times more than watched during the same time periods last year. ESPN’s five broadcasts have averaged 547,000 homes, slightly more than double the average viewership during that time period last year.

The Americans’ final first-round game, against Poland on Friday at 7:30 a.m., will be televised by ESPN.

England’s 1-0 victory over Argentina last Friday, which started at 7:30 a.m. EDT, got a 1.22 cable rating on ESPN2 and was seen by 1,025,500 households, outdrawing the Americans’ 3-2 win over Portugal, which began at 5 a.m. two days earlier (1.19/998,000 households).

In 1998, when the World Cup was played in France and games were broadcast during the morning and afternoon, ESPN averaged 670,000 households and ESPN2 averaged 292,000.

ABC’s replay of England’s win at 1:15 p.m. EDT Saturday got a 1.9 overnight rating and 5 share in 53 major markets, which translates to 2 million households. The overnight was up 6 percent from the 1.8/5 received by the Netherlands’ 5-0 rout of South Korea, televised live in the corresponding period during the 1998 World Cup.