By Variety | Created at 2026-07-21 23:27:47 | Updated at 2026-08-02 21:28:13
1 week ago
Spain’s victory over Argentina at Sunday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 final broke the record books in the United States — averaging 38,937,000 viewers watch on Fox, making it the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. TV history and most-watched FIFA World Cup final ever in the U.S., according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, on the Spanish language side, Telemundo and Peacock brought in 23.9 million viewers to the World Cup Final, also making it the most-watched soccer match ever in Spanish-language TV history.
Combined, that makes for a record-breaking 62.8 million viewers watching the match on Sunday, July 19.
On Fox, the numbers spiked at 5:45 p.m., when 51,685,000 viewers were watching as Spain secured the only goal of the game — cementing its 1-0 victory in extra time over Argentina.
The final was up 132% vs. FIFA World Cup 2022 final in Qatar (France vs. Argentina, Sunday morning Dec. 18, 2022, averaging 16,784,000 viewers) and up 240% vs. the FIFA World Cup 2018 final in Russia, (France vs. Croatia, Sunday morning July 15, 2018, with 11,441,000 viewers)
The thriller of a World Cup final was completely dominated by Spain, which controlled the ball from virtually the start of the match. But despite multiple shots by Spain, Argentina deftly defended its goal — forcing the match to go into extra time. Finally, in minute 106, substitute Ferran Torres scored a goal for Spain, securing them the World Cup victory and denying Argentina a back-to-back win.
The 38,937,000 viewers audience for the Spain win beat what had previously been the most-watched soccer telecast ever on U.S. English language TV, set by the U.S. Men’s National Team’s loss to Belgium in the round of 16, which garnered 33,089,000 viewers.
The World Cup Final was a smash all over the world: As Variety previously reported, inside the winning country of Spain, the final averaged 15.7 million viewers and an extraordinary 87.1% audience share across RTVE’s La 1, regional broadcaster 3Cat, La 2 and DAZN, reaching a cumulative 20.1 million people.
With the strong performance on Fox, rivals are now looking at potentially making a bid for the next World Cup (which Fox paid $485 million for in 2026). Among some reportedly interested suitors: Netflix, ESPN, YouTube and Apple.
More to come
