THERE were just too many people watching the World Cup finale to get an accurate count.

According to FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, more than 1.5 billion tuned in worldwide to see Brazil clobber Germany 2-0 – and that includes, homes with TVs and, more importantly, crowds in bars, restaurants and even on the beaches of Rio.

But when the statistical whizzes calculate the ratings from Sunday’s game, each TV may only count as one viewer, even though there may have been as many as 100 people gathered watching.

“Something like 50,000 people were watching the game on TV’s on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janerio,” a sports network executive said yesterday.

“And in Berlin, people were gathered in parks, surrounding TV sets,” the executive said.

In the U.S., about 14 million viewers watched all or part of the game during its two broadcasts on ABC, once live from 6:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. and again later in the day on tape, according to ABC ratings research. On Spanish-language television, in the 10 metered markets where Univision can be seen, about 1.2 million TV homes were tuned to the game.