Soccer is perhaps the most popular sport in the world, even if it is not the biggest in the United States of America.
The NFL, NBA, etc, are generally more popular than ‘football’, but the 2026 World Cup meant a lot more eyes were on soccer across America this summer.
In turn, it is perhaps not surprising to see the tournament breaking viewership records on Fox and Telemundo.
World Cup final most-watched sporting event on Fox since 1994 apart from Super Bowl
The USMNT were knocked out of the 2026 World Cup in the Round of 16 after losing 4-1 to Belgium.
Despite the early exit, it seems like many were still heavily invested in the competition all the way up to the final.
This was made clear after Fox’s Michael Mulvihill tweeted that the final between Spain and Argentina set viewership records on the network.
He stated: “The World Cup Final averaged 66.4 million viewers in the U.S. on FOX and Telemundo combined. 42.5 million on FOX. 23.9 million on Telemundo.
“Other than Super Bowls, this is the largest sports audience since the 1994 Winter Olympics.”
Soccer in America still has some way to go if it is to reach the heights of the Super Bowl, however.
The 2026 showpiece is reported to have had over 125 million viewers on Fox earlier this year, around double that of the World Cup.
Of course, that may have been different had the USMNT reached the final, but that was always going to be an unlikely scenario.
Still, it may lead to more people inside the USA starting to take soccer a bit more seriously, given there is clearly a decent audience to capitalise on.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
