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High hopes among FIFA, Fox Sports, and Telemundo for increased viewer interest in the 2026 men’s World Cup have been confirmed—and then some.
The networks said that their first two featured broadcasts of the tournament both drew historic audiences. Among the initial findings:
- The June 11 tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa averaged 6.3 million viewers in the U.S. on Fox, according to preliminary figures. The viewership represented the most-watched group-stage match ever on English-language U.S. television that didn’t involve the American team.
- The U.S. men’s national team opener Friday against Paraguay averaged 15.99 million viewers, again according to initial figures. That marked the most-watched World Cup match involving the U.S. men’s team in English-language U.S. broadcast history, according to Fox research of Nielsen data.
- That Fox figure for the U.S.-Paraguay match also more than doubled a comparable figure for a U.S.-Wales match to help open the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That latter broadcast aired in a weekday timeslot for U.S. viewers and in the non-traditional late fall window used in that iteration of the tournament for climate-related reasons.
- The South Africa-Mexico match averaged 12.1 million viewers for the Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo, its streaming platforms, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock. That figure represents the most-watched World Cup opening broadcast in history, regardless of language, and the most-watched World Cup match in Spanish-language history.
- The Spanish-language coverage of the U.S.-Paraguay match on those same platforms, meanwhile, averaged 8.9 million viewers, representing its most-watched group-stage match ever not featuring Mexico.
Each of these initial audience figures involves data from the Fox broadcast network, the Fox One and Tubi streaming services, or Telemundo’s platforms and Peacock. They are not, however, final figures that involve Nielsen Big Data + Panel methodology that is considered official currency across the media business. That data is expected later this week.
The combined audience for the U.S.-Paraguay match, meanwhile, came to 24.9 million across the English- and Spanish-language coverage—a figure that places it in the highest reaches of sports media.
“When the final Big Data numbers come in, it’ll be north of 25 million,” said Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill in a social media post. “Certainly holds its own with CFB, NBA, MLB championship audiences. Love to see it.”
Out-of-home viewership, something expanded by Nielsen early last year and since the last World Cup, added materially to the latest audience figures.
Big Run of Sports
Despite the current lack of full viewership data, the preliminary World Cup viewership extends what has been a massive run in recent weeks across much of sports media.
The NBA Finals on ABC, won by the Knicks Saturday night, was up 116% through four games and at its highest level since 1998. Similarly, the Stanley Cup Final, also airing on ABC, is up 104% in viewership through four games.
Other properties such as MLB have also seen strong lifts on their national broadcasts this spring.
The uplift, however, isn’t entirely universal. Star power still matters in many sports and events, and a lack of it can seriously cut into the fan appeal. The recently concluded French Open particularly saw that, with viewership falling 25% and to its lowest level in 25 years amid all of the foremost names in both the men’s and women’s competitions being knocked out in earlier rounds.
