The 2026 World Cup is coming to a close. When the final whistle is heard on Sunday, the 104th game of the tournament, broadcasters from around the world will point to viewership numbers and proclaim this World Cup as a smashing success. In the U.S., both FOX and Telemundo, the Spanish-language rights holder of the World Cup stateside, have seen record-breaking spikes in viewership throughout the tournament. FOX reported that viewership peaked at 41 million on July 5 when the U.S. lost 4-1 to Belgium in the round of 16. It stands as the most-watched soccer game in U.S. television history. The 12 million who watched on Telemundo were part of the most-watched USMNT game on Spanish-language television. A day prior, more than 23 million viewers tuned in to watch the highly anticipated Mexico-England round of 16 game in Mexico City. That also set an all-time Spanish-language TV record. Both networks appeared to be dueling for ratings and competing for viewers. The press releases touting each other’s wins landed in the inboxes of reporters nearly simultaneously.During the first game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, FOX cut to commercials during the first-ever FIFA-mandated hydration break. The network returned late, and viewers missed some of the action. Before the tournament, Telemundo had committed to not showing commercials during live action. After FOX’s misstep, staying with the players as they drank water and spoke to their head coaches became a badge of honor for Telemundo.El Mundial es Nuestro (The World Cup is Ours) went from Telemundo’s World Cup slogan to an overnight rallying cry. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)“I went to my boss, and I said, ‘I’m not going to be the first person in this country to do a fourth-quarter break during a live soccer match,” Joaquin Duro, NCBUniversal/Telemundo’s Executive vice president of sports and head of streaming, told The Athletic on Friday. “It was creativity by our sales teams to monetize the space and for it to feel completely non-invasive. And as a fan, it was an amazing moment.”According to NBCUniversal, 11.4 million viewers watched Argentina vs. England on Telemundo and Peacock, while 9.8 million watched Spain vs. France on the network. The semifinal round averaged 6 million viewers, which is up 147 per cent compared to the 2022 World Cup’s viewership through that tournament’s semifinals.But Duro also set the record straight about any assumptions that Telemundo and FOX are openly battling each other. “We have not sat in a room saying that we need to beat FOX,” he said. “We have competed against our sales goal, our estimates, our 2022 goal and our 2018 goal. We’re not watching FOX. We don’t read numbers on FOX.”It has, however, become a standard practice every four years for English-dominant viewers to watch the World Cup in Spanish. The reasons are varied. Some viewers may not like the traditional commentary of an English-language broadcaster. Studio talent like Alexi Lalas, among soccer’s more polarizing television personalities, can be a turn-off for some. The most common reason is that Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcasts are far more energetic.