The opening match of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in the United States not only thrilled fans but also set a new benchmark for broadcast reach.
Across Telemundo, Fox and the streaming service Tubi, the United States’ first game attracted a combined audience of 27.5 million viewers, a figure that eclipses the previous combined record of roughly 26.7 million recorded during the 2022 and 2014 World Cup finals.
English-language dominance on Fox
Fox led the English-language market with 18 million viewers tuning in for the U.S.-Paraguay encounter, marking the highest ever English-language audience for a Men’s World Cup match in the United States.
Spanish-language surge on Telemundo
Telemundo delivered its strongest Spanish-language showing ever, pulling 9.5 million viewers for the same match and reaching a peak of 13.4 million during the Mexico-South Africa opener, the most-watched World Cup opener ever on U.S. airwaves.
The combined English and Spanish audiences for the Mexico-South Africa opener swelled to 20.6 million, reflecting a 12 percent jump from preliminary estimates and underscoring the growing bilingual appetite for the tournament.
Overall, World Cup games broadcast on Fox, FS1 and Tubi are averaging 6.7 million viewers per match, a 152 percent increase over the group-stage average from four years earlier, while Telemundo’s Spanish feed is holding a 7.5 million average, representing 53 percent of the total U.S. audience.
These numbers come as the tournament’s schedule rolls through major U.S. venues, from Kansas City and Boston to Dallas, St. Louis, Austin, Washington D.C., West Palm Beach and beyond, each location poised to further amplify the event’s footprint.