US Final Sets World Cup Viewership Record, Globally

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina set US television records, with a combined 62.8 million viewers across Fox’s English feed and Telemundo/Peacock’s Spanish feed, making it the most-watched soccer final in U.S. history. Fox’s English-language broadcast drew about 38.9 million viewers, while Spanish-language coverage reached 23.9 million, marking a substantial jump over the 2022 final. Globally, the match delivered record viewership in several markets, including Canada (6.4 million on TSN/RDS) and a 13.9 million average on BBC in the UK. The World Cup as a whole posted massive engagement with a record monthly average on Fox and strong totals on streaming, contributing to a cumulative attendance of about 6.73 million across the tournament. Analysts note the surge in English- and Spanish-language audiences, plus the event’s broader social and streaming footprint, as evidence of football’s expanding mainstream appeal in North America, even as the crypto sponsorship boom largely did not materialize.