The 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina became the most-watched soccer event in U.S. television history, drawing over 60 million viewers, reports infohub.kz.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the English-language broadcast on Fox averaged 38.937 million viewers and peaked at 51.685 million, making it the highest-rated soccer broadcast in English-language U.S. television. Spain won 1-0 with a goal in extra time. Interest extended beyond traditional soccer fans: the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo added 22.6 million viewers, bringing the total U.S. audience to over 60 million.
The final's success capped a tournament that was the first to feature 48 teams and was co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament comprised 104 matches across 16 stadiums, with an average audience of 7.737 million viewers per game on Fox, FS1, and Tubi. For comparison, the 2022 World Cup averaged 3.588 million viewers per game, while the 2018 tournament averaged 2.77 million. The tournament remained popular even after the U.S. team was eliminated in the round of 32. Global stars such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland boosted interest. Organizers also reported record stadium attendance of nearly 7 million fans.
The expanded 48-team format did not dilute competition. Cape Verde, Congo, and Curaçao were among the tournament's surprises, while the semifinals featured the top four teams in the world rankings: England, Argentina, Spain, and France. Organizers avoided major weather issues despite concerns about heat in North America. The toughest test was the Paraguay-France match in Philadelphia, where temperatures reached about 38 degrees Celsius. The tournament also faced political questions, including the participation of Iran amid the Middle East conflict and the need to relocate the team's base from Arizona to Melbourne.