Early TV ratings for 2026 World Cup set records for Fox, Telemundo
Argentina’s Lionel Messi isn’t the only one scoring in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Fox and Telemundo are off to a blazing start in the TV ratings for the quadrennial soccer tournament, delivering big increases over the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.
Through the first 16 group stage matches, an average of 6 million viewers have watched on Fox and cable network FS1 cable network, a 128% increase over the 2022 FIFA World Cup according to Nielsen data.
The first 12 group stage matches of the tournament drew an average of 7.5 million viewers on the Comcast-owned Spanish language network Telemundo, a 234% increase from four years ago. The Telemundo telecasts are also streamed on Peacock.
The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team’s opening match against Paraguay held Friday at SoFi Stadium set a record for the most-watched World Cup game on both and English and Spanish language television. The match scored 18 million viewers on Fox and its streaming platforms, while Telemundo’s telecast averaged 9.5 million.
The early ratings show the enduring power of live sporting events and their ability to draw mass audiences at a time when streaming video has splintered viewership . Scripted hit prime time TV shows need seven days or more of viewing on demand to reach the audience levels the World Cup is attracting in real time.
“Having this World Cup in North America clearly has a huge impact on ratings,” said Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis.
World Cup matches held in the U.S. for the first time since 1994 helps — and a competitive USNMT playing in front of home crowds could turbocharge the ratings to even bigger heights. Fox is expecting another record when the team plays its third group stage match in prime time on June 25.
Some sports media pundits have been citing the addition of out-of-home viewing and internet-connected televisions to Nielsen data as the reason sports ratings have been on the rise. But Mike Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics for Fox Sports, asserts that the viewers have been there all along.
“For many years, the numbers were under-counted and what we’re seeing now is a truer representation of the sports audience,” Mulvihill said in a recent interview. “You just cannot overstate what it means to us to be able to capture all that viewing that’s happening at fan fests, in bars and at smaller watch parties.”
Out-of-home viewing boosted the audience levels for Mexico’s inaugural World Cup match on June 11 by 50%, and contributed several million viewers to the total for the USMNT opener.
Mulvihill projects that by the end of the tournament, 150 million people will have watched some portion of Fox’s 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage. The figure approaches the 170 million people Fox reaches with a slate of regular season NFL games.
“For us, it’s like having two NFL seasons in a single year,” Mulvihill said.
Fox will be able to capitalize on the strong numbers for the early matches. Networks typically hold back some commercial inventory for big events in case audience levels fall short of what advertisers are guaranteed. Fox has surpassed those expectations and can now go back into the marketplace to sell available commercials for the later rounds, most likely for more than what was paid before the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup may also be benefiting from a viewing public that wants a distraction from the ongoing political discord in the U.S. and war in the Middle East.
“Sports still remains the one thing we can all kind of talk about and disagree about without it being divisive,” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, director of the sports management program at the George Washington University School of Business.
Delphy Neirotti believes the World Cup has some momentum from the NBA Finals, which averaged 20.6 million viewers on ABC for the New York Knicks’ triumph over the San Antonio Spurs, The feel-good story of the Knicks winning their first championship in 53 years delivered the most-watched Finals since 1998 and put fans in the mood for more action.
“Fans were already primed up, meeting with friends, watching sports and now they can continue that camaraderie and that collective experience,” Delphy Neirotti said. “They want to be with community.”
The combined numbers for Fox and Telemundo are highest in Los Angeles, which in addition to a large Latino population has 500,000 Iranians. An average audience of 4.7 million viewers watched the Iranian national team play to a 2-2 tie against New Zealand on Monday, the second most-watched match ever on Fox Sports 1.
But there are plenty of World Cup fans in the heartland. Kansas City had the highest local rating for Fox’s coverage of the USMNT’s match, with more than 9% of the market’s homes tuning in.
Kansas City hosted its first World Cup match Tuesday at Arrowhead Stadium, where Argentina’s Messi set a tournament record with three goals in his team’s 3-0 victory over Algeria. The city has cultivated soccer fans with well-attended watch parties held in its Power and Light District.
“The watch parties that they’ve planned out throughout their cities to give people an opportunity to be part of the event, even though they’re not going to the event,” Rishe said. “Whether you’re watching or just walking by, it’s exciting.”