The 2026 FIFA World Cup continues to post record-breaking audiences across television and streaming platforms as the tournament approaches the end of the group stage. Strong viewership is not limited to matches involving the United States and Mexico, with neutral fixtures also attracting significant audiences.
According to Fox Sports, World Cup matches averaged 5.9 million viewers through Sunday, while Telemundo averaged 5.5 million viewers per match window. Telemundo’s figure includes Nielsen-measured linear audiences and an additional 2.3 million streaming viewers tracked by Adobe Analytics. Both broadcasters have recorded triple-digit growth compared with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
One of the tournament’s standout broadcasts so far was the United States-Australia match, which averaged 16.22 million viewers on FOX. The game ranks behind only the United States-Paraguay opener (18.04 million) and the Argentina-France final from Qatar 2022 (16.78 million) among the most-watched men’s World Cup matches ever on English-language television. Audience levels peaked at 21.22 million viewers during the broadcast.
On Spanish-language television, the match drew 6.8 million viewers on Telemundo, making it the network’s second most-watched USMNT match on record.
Later that day, Scotland-Morocco averaged 9.17 million viewers on FOX, while Brazil-Haiti attracted 8.74 million. On Telemundo, Brazil-Haiti delivered a strong audience of 7.3 million viewers.
Germany-Ivory Coast led weekend viewership on FOX with 7.79 million viewers, while Uruguay-Cape Verde topped both Telemundo (7.0 million) and FS1 (6.18 million).
The Uruguay-Cape Verde match, along with its New Zealand-Egypt lead-out, produced the two largest soccer audiences in FS1’s 12-year history.
Meanwhile, Mexico-South Korea set a new benchmark for Spanish-language World Cup broadcasts. The match attracted 14 million viewers overall, including a record 6.1 million streaming viewers, making it the most-watched World Cup match ever on Spanish-language television.
As the group stage draws to a close, the numbers underline the commercial and media success of the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is proving to be one of the most-watched editions in tournament history both on traditional television and digital platforms.