The final of men's soccer's 2026 FIFA World Cup, held in the US on Sunday, became the most-watched fixture from that sport ever in the US.
Overall, the game itself was watched by 62.8 million people on average – via both English-language broadcaster Fox and Spanish-language partner Telemundo. Fox's coverage of the fixture – in which Spain emerged victorious 1-0 after extra time – was consumed by 38.9 million, while the Telemundo coverage brought in another 23.9 million viewers.
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The Fox coverage broke the specific record for the most-watched soccer telecast in the US, ever, as well as the record for the most-watched World Cup final in the US.
The peak audience for that broadcaster's airing of the high-profile game was 51.7 million, with that figure coming in during the extra time period in which Spain's Ferran Torres netted the game's only goal.
The 2026 World Cup was held in the US, Canada, and Mexico, between June 11 and July 19, and has brought in major audiences across those home markets through its duration.
The 38.9 million figure for Fox's coverage also includes the pre-match build-up – for the 120 minutes of the game itself, the average audience for that broadcaster was 42.5 million.
The previous soccer audience record in the US only dates back a couple of weeks, set during the US' 4-1 home defeat to Belgium at the round-of-16 stage.
For Telemundo, meanwhile, the game became the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language history in the US. It beat the figure of 23.2 million that tuned into Mexico's 3-2 defeat at this World Cup against England, also in the round of 16.
In total for Telemundo, the 104 games of the World Cup provided an average of 6.3 million viewers per game for the Spanish-language network.
The 2022 equivalent figure, with that tournament held in Qatar across November and December, was 2.6 million.
For Fox, meanwhile, the 2022 World Cup final, in which Argentina beat France on penalties, was watched by a total of only 12.8 million viewers (having been broadcast much earlier in the day than Sunday's final, because of the time difference). Across Fox and Telemundo, the final four years only pulled in 22.3 million viewers in total.
Elsewhere in FIFA World Cup news, public broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has secured rights to the 2030 World Cup.
That tournament, to be held primarily across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, will be aired in full by TVNZ, it was announced over the weekend.
This comes after TVNZ's coverage of the 2026 edition (to which it also held rights) broke streaming records in New Zealand.
Coverage of the 104 games brought in 20 million streams, TVNZ has claimed.
For the final, 761,000 people tuned into the TVNZ1 main linear channel to watch, with that game – unsurprisingly – the highest-viewed match of the tournament.
Coverage of the national men's team's three games – a draw against Iran, preceding heavy defeats at the hands of Egypt and Belgium – reached over 1 million people via TVNZ1, and over 500,000 via the TVNZ streaming service, meanwhile.
In addition to the majority of games taking place in Iberia and Morocco in four years' time, three fixtures will be held across Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay (one each), to celebrate the centenary of the first World Cup in 1930.
TVNZ has said it will unveil details around its 2030 World Cup coverage plans at a later date.
Jodi O'Donnell, chief executive at TVNZ, said this World Cup has been a "standout moment for football in Aotearoa [New Zealand] and for TVNZ.
"With FIFA World Cup 2030 secured, we’re excited to keep building on our momentum."
She added: "We’ve loved bringing New Zealanders into the heart of the global conversation, while delivering coverage that felt distinctly local and made for our audiences."
