The U.S. men’s national team has already made history on the field at the 2026 World Cup by winning its first knockout stage game in 24 years, and Mauricio Pochettino’s team is also creating waves off the grass as the 2–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina was the most-watched English language soccer telecast in U.S. television history.
Fans have filled to capacity SoFi Stadium, Lumen Field and Levi’s Stadium in support of the Stars and Stripes, while watch parties, packed out bars and millions of homes have tuned in to what’s been an incredible summer of soccer in the U.S.
Nielsen reports that Wednesday’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina was watched by 24.43 million viewers on Fox, with the audience peaking at 31.8 million for the first-ever USMNT World Cup knockout game in primetime hours this century. Previously, the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in the U.S. was the 2015 Women’s World Cup final between the USWNT and Japan, which garnered 22.3 million viewers.
Telemundo, which millions of English-speaking fans watch due to greater accessibility, reported 9.1 million total viewers over the game window, putting that viewership on track to become one of the most-watched Spanish-language soccer games in U.S. history.
With a combined average likely over 30 million U.S. viewers, the audience numbers surpass the average of last month’s NBA finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs (20.6 million), the 2025 World Series and also the NFL’s AFC and NFC Wildcard playoff games from 2025. It is, however, some way short of the Super Bowl’s average of 125.6 million viewers on NBC earlier this year.
Mexico, Canada Bringing in Massive Numbers
It’s far from just U.S. fans who have caught World Cup fever, as in both Mexico and Canada, the tournament’s co-hosts, record numbers have tuned in.
On Tuesday, as Mexico knocked off Ecuador 2–0 in the round of 32 at the Estadio Azteca, an average of 18.9 million viewers tuned in on Telemundo and Peacock in the United States, making it the most-watched Spanish-language soccer telecast in American history. In Mexico, the game drew an average of 35.1 million viewers on TV Azteca and Televisa, making it the most-watched game on domestic TV this century.
North of the border, Canada’s run to the round of 16 has the highest percentage of the population tuning in among the three co-hosts. According to TSN, an average of 5.3 million tuned in to Les Rouges’ 6–0 trouncing of Qatar for the country’s first men’s World Cup win, with 11.7 million tuning in at some point, making up roughly 27% of the country’s population.
With hopes that all three host nations will advance to the quarterfinals and beyond, the broadcast numbers are expected to balloon even more.
