Americans have turned out in droves to watch this summer's World Cup, shattering TV viewership records to catch underdog upsets, late-game goals and, on Monday night, the U.S. team's loss to Belgium.
Monday's game drew 30 million viewers on Fox, according to preliminary figures from the broadcaster, which has English-language rights to the tournament in the U.S. Another 12 million viewers tuned into the Spanish-language broadcast on Comcast's Telemundo and Peacock streaming service.
The combined viewership tops a record set last week, when, according to data from Nielsen, more than 36 million people in the U.S. watched the national team defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina across those platforms.
This competition is attracting an extraordinary audience in part because the North American location provides convenient game times. Cinderella stories such as Cape Verde's extended run captured the public's attention. Several games have been decided in overtime or penalty shootouts, keeping viewers glued to their screens.
The question of whether soccer would ever catch on in the U.S. is now settled, said Mike Mulvihill, who oversees insights and analytics at Fox Sports. "I think we can now say conclusively that it has broken through."
The U.S. team's momentum was an obvious draw as it made a deep run before losing to Belgium, 4-1. Monday night's game unfolded following days of outrage over FIFA's decision to reverse the red-card suspension of U.S. striker Folarin Balogun from the match after President Trump called the organization's president and asked for a review.
Monday's game drew more viewers than the New York Knicks' NBA Finals Game Five win over the San Antonio Spurs last month and topped viewership for the deciding Game Seven of the 2025 World Series between the victorious Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays in November.
Those games were dwarfed by football's biggest night. More than 125 million people watched NBCUniversal's coverage of Super Bowl LX in February, in which the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots.
Other World Cup matchups pulled in U.S. viewers. Morocco's victory over the Netherlands in the round of 32, which was decided in a penalty shootout, drew 10.6 million viewers, according to Fox. Portugal's win over Croatia, clinched by an offside call in stoppage time, pulled an even bigger audience to become what Fox said was the most-watched English-language World Cup match not featuring the U.S. Men's National Team, besides tournament finals.
Fox Corp. and The Wall Street Journal's parent, News Corp, share common ownership.
Meanwhile, more than 23 million U.S. viewers tuned into the Spanish language broadcast of Mexico's loss to England on Sunday, according to preliminary numbers from Telemundo. The network said it was the most-watched Spanish-language soccer match ever broadcast in the U.S.
Broadcasters have been able to cash in on the audiences tuning into the games, thanks in part to the addition this summer of two "hydration breaks" a game. The three-minute breaks, which interrupt the games during the 22nd and 67th minutes, have drawn the ire of soccer fans worldwide.
Much of the World Cup's ad inventory is sold a year in advance through large packages, which in some cases can cost tens of millions of dollars. Prices vary significantly based on the package size and the tournament round. For example, a 30-second spot during early-round games cost some brands roughly $200,000 and jumped to around $750,000 when the U.S. team played, ad buyers said.
Some brands spent almost $500,000 for ad slots that will run during the quarterfinals, with final-game ad prices costing over $1 million per spot, one of the buyers said.
Write to Molly Reinmann at molly.reinmann@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2026 16:56 ET (20:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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