{"id":13242,"date":"2026-07-22T05:06:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13242"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:06:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:06:35","slug":"world-cup-final-draws-record-62-8m-u-s-viewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13242","title":{"rendered":"World Cup final draws record 62.8M U.S. viewers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/F7U77ipFJxkQ47ZGC5HMrXCRUhw=\/0x259:3003x1948\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/21\/1784647808107.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sunday&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/12\/world-cup-2026-usmnt-loss-usa-soccer\" target=\"_blank\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>The record audience underscores soccer&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/10\/2026-world-cup-casual-fan-guide\" target=\"_blank\">growing popularity<\/a> in the U.S. and is likely to boost the value of future media rights.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>By the numbers: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cost-world-cup-tickets-get-in\" target=\"_blank\">The game<\/a>, which saw Spain beat defending champion Argentina 1\u20130 in extra time, also was the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history, Telemundo said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nearly 39 million U.S. viewers watched the game on Fox, which had exclusive English-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 132% from the 2022 final on Fox, the company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/stories\/presspass\/fifa-world-cup-2026-final-etches-place-record-books-most-watched-soccer-telecast-u-s-history\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Another nearly 24 million U.S. viewers tuned into the broadcast on Telemundo, which had exclusive Spanish-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 166% from the 2022 final on Telemundo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>Data: Nielsen; Note: Includes English and Spanish broadcasts. Nielsen began including out-of-home and streaming viewing in its official national TV ratings in 2020; Chart: Kerry Flynn\/Axios<\/div>\n<p><strong>Streaming played a big role<\/strong> in the tournament&#8217;s reach. June was the biggest subscriber acquisition month for Fox&#8217;s streaming service, Fox One, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.antenna.live\/insights\/fifa-world-cup-2026-delivered-big-sign-ups-for-fox-one\" target=\"_blank\">Antenna<\/a>. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fox One added an estimated 2.8 million new subscribers in June, more than 2.5 times its previous monthly record in January during the NFL playoffs, per Antenna.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly all of Fox&#8217;s new June subscribers \u2014 93% \u2014 were first-time customers rather than returning users. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The intrigue: <\/strong>Peacock, which streams Telemundo, also saw strong subscriber growth, recording an estimated 3.75 million U.S. sign-ups in June, per Antenna. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Streaming accounted for nearly half of Telemundo&#8217;s World Cup audience, up from 30% in 2022, per Telemundo.<\/li>\n<li>Telemundo&#8217;s coverage resonated beyond Spanish speakers, as some preferred the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2026\/jul\/17\/telemundo-world-cup-english-speaking-viewers\" target=\"_blank\">energetic commentary<\/a>, lack of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DZqL0qXkvSR\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\">commercials<\/a> during the hydration breaks and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/entertainment\/sports\/this-is-the-cheapest-way-to-stream-every-world-cup-match-in-2026-but-theres-a-catch\" target=\"_blank\">cheaper cost<\/a> of Peacock compared to Fox One.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines: <\/strong>America hosting the tournament, a competitive U.S. men&#8217;s national team and broader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/media-trends-membership\/2026\/06\/13\/live-sports-streaming\" target=\"_blank\">streaming distribution<\/a> helped push viewership to new heights in the U.S.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The U.S. team&#8217;s matches set audience records. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSportsPR\/status\/2066991530754081180\" target=\"_blank\">Fox said<\/a> the U.S. opening match against Paraguay on June 12<strong> <\/strong>became the most-watched FIFA Men&#8217;s World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. history, averaging 18 million viewers.<\/li>\n<li>The U.S. men&#8217;s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/fox-all-time-us-soccer-ratings-high-world-cup-1236636277\" target=\"_blank\">set the record<\/a> as the biggest English-language TV audience for any soccer match in America with 26.4 million viewers on Fox. <\/li>\n<li>The U.S. team&#8217;s loss to Belgium on July 6 later <a href=\"https:\/\/frontofficesports.com\/u-s-belgium-world-cup-match-sets-ratings-record-with-50m-viewers\/\" target=\"_blank\">bested the record<\/a> with 37.2 million viewers on Fox, per Nielsen, along with 12.9 million viewers on Telemundo, for more than 50 million combined.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7432616\/2026\/07\/08\/england-mexico-world-cup-tv-ratings\/\" target=\"_blank\">July 5 match<\/a> between Mexico and England came close to that record with 46.7 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The big picture:<\/strong> The FIFA World Cup has historically attracted the largest global audience of any recurring television event worldwide. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>FIFA has not yet released worldwide figures. The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France held the previous final game viewership record at 1.42 billion worldwide, per <a href=\"https:\/\/inside.fifa.com\/tournament-organisation\/audience-reports\/qatar-2022\" target=\"_blank\">FIFA<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Live sports remain one of the few programming categories capable of attracting massive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/12\/31\/super-bowl-thanksgiving-day-parade-emmys-oscars\" target=\"_blank\">live audiences<\/a>, driving both advertising revenue and streaming subscriptions.<\/li>\n<li>FIFA also experimented with bringing more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/fifa-world-cup-halftime-show-what-to-expect\/\" target=\"_blank\">American-style entertainment<\/a> to the event, including its first halftime show for a World Cup final, to help the tournament appeal beyond traditional soccer fans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What to watch:<\/strong> FIFA is expected to cash in on the tournament&#8217;s success by opening up the media rights bidding process for the 2030 World Cup. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fox and Telemundo&#8217;s current agreements ran through the 2026 tournament, after FIFA extended the deals without a competitive bidding process for the 2022 tournament.<\/li>\n<li>FIFA has reportedly alerted media companies that English- and Spanish-language U.S. rights are likely to be sold together as a package for 2030, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/07\/07\/fifa-world-cup-media-rights-netflix-disney-youtube.html\" target=\"_blank\">per CNBC<\/a>, with Netflix, Disney and YouTube all interested in bidding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunday&#8217;s FIFA World Cup final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history. Why it matters: The record audience underscores soccer&#8217;s growing popularity in the U.S. and is likely to boost the value of future media rights. By the numbers: The&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/F7U77ipFJxkQ47ZGC5HMrXCRUhw=\/0x259:3003x1948\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/21\/1784647808107.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}