If Team USA reaches the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, the match could pull an NFL-like 50 million-plus viewers.
That’s the word from Fox Sports ratings guru Mike Mulvihill as World Cup fever sweeps the country. Speaking to Colin Cowherd on the host’s eponymous podcast for The Volume, Fox’s president of insights and analytics said a final between the U.S. men’s national team against soccer powerhouses Argentina, England, or France could create a perfect storm of TV ratings. The final is scheduled to take place at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 19th, at 3 p.m. ET.
“If we really allow ourselves to just think as big as possible, if the U.S. were to get to the final, the U.S in the final, Sunday afternoon, to me that’s a 50 million viewer match,” Mulvihill told Cowherd. “That’s an NFC Championship Game.”
Final viewership of 50 million viewers for the FIFA final would actually exceed audiences for both of the NFL’s conference championship games during the 2025 season.
Fox averaged 46.1 million viewers for the Seahawks’ 31-27 win over the Rams in the NFC Championship on Jan. 26. CBS Sports, meanwhile, pulled 48.6 million viewers for the Patriots’ 10-7 win over the Broncos on Jan. 25.
