The 2026 World Cup final, in which Spain defeated Argentina 1-0, set a new U.S. television viewership record for soccer, drawing 38.9 million viewers on Fox, according to data from Nielsen. This surpasses the previous record set by the 2022 final between Argentina and France, which averaged 16.8 million viewers on Fox.
The match, played on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, also set records for Spanish-language television in the U.S., with Telemundo reporting an average of 12.3 million viewers. Combined, the total audience across Fox and Telemundo reached approximately 51.2 million viewers.
The previous U.S. record for a soccer match was the 2015 Women's World Cup final, which drew 26.7 million viewers on Fox. The 2026 men's final more than doubled that figure, reflecting the growing popularity of soccer in the United States.
Fox's coverage of the tournament also set records for streaming, with an average of 1.2 million viewers per match on the Fox Sports app and other digital platforms. The final alone drew 2.8 million streaming viewers.
