The World Cup Round of 16 saw co-hosts USA clash with Belgium, while England faced off with another of the host nations, Mexico.
The Three Lions managed to end Mexico’s impressive unbeaten home record and secure their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were not so fortunate, and lost 4-1 to Belgium in their Round of 16 meeting. But more fans tuned in to watch their defeat compared to England, it has been revealed.
USA vs Belgium World Cup match drew 50.1 million viewers
The figures for both games have been shared by Front Office Sports, who say they were both the most-watched non-NFL sporting events in the USA in the 21st century.
FOS stated: “USA-Belgium’s World Cup match drew 50.1 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo, while Mexico-England drew 46.7 million.
“The two World Cup games are the most-watched non-NFL sporting events in the U.S. since the 1994 Winter Olympics.”
Of course, those figures do not include viewers from outside of North America, where the majority of England fans will have watched.
Still, it does highlight the growing interest in soccer across the USA thanks to the World Cup.
It will be interesting to see if the increase in viewers continues for the 2026 World Cup final, which takes place on Sunday, July 19.
125.6m people are estimated to have watched the latest Super Bowl, but the soccer showpiece is expected to surpass that total with relative ease.
It is thought that 2.87 billion viewers watched at least one minute of the 2022 World Cup, with 2.21 billion sticking around for 20 minutes or more.
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