The 2026 FIFA World Cup closed out on yet another high note, as nearly 40 million viewers tuned in for the Spain-Argentina final on Fox Sports.According to Nielsen Big Data + Panel estimates, Fox’s coverage of Spain’s 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina averaged 38.94 million viewers, making it the most-watched soccer match on record in the U.S. Note that the deliveries for the Fox Sunday afternoon broadcast do not include the turnout for Telemundo/Peacock’s Spanish-language coverage of the final, which reached a record 23.9 million viewers.In what amounts to a surefire sign that American viewers couldn’t get enough of this World Cup, the official deliveries for Sunday’s final blew by Fox’s July 6 broadcast of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16. That match averaged 33.09 million viewers in its primetime slot.Spain’s win over the Lionel Messi and the defending champs peaked at 51.69 million viewers in the 5:45 p.m.-6 p.m. ET quarter-hour. La Roja’s dominant performance now stands as the most-watched non-NFL U.S. broadcast since the Chicago Cubs won Game 7 of the 2016 World Series in front of a Fox audience of 40.05 million viewers.By way of comparison with the off-cycle previous final, which was held on Dec. 18, 2022, Fox’s coverage of Spain’s afternoon triumph delivered an audience that was more than twice the size (+132%) of the analogous Argentina-France match. Argentina’s win on penalty kicks averaged 16.78 million viewers on Fox.If last year’s list of the top 100 U.S. broadcasts is any indication, Fox’s presentation of the final is a cinch to land among the 10 most-watched outings of 2026. That said, while the Telemundo/Peacock figures pushed the total stateside deliveries to 62.84 million viewers, it’s worth noting that the combined total will not be featured on the year-end list.As the commercial loads in the English- and Spanish-language broadcasts were not identical, Nielsen does not categorize the two feeds as uniform simulcasts. In using the hydration breaks as an opportunity to air a few minutes of extra commercials per half, Fox’s World Cup coverage has been classified as an entirely separate entity from Telemundo’s traditional ad-free presentation. (As the currency backing some $68 billion in annual TV ad buys, Nielsen’s ratings data exists so that advertisers may ensure that the networks’ performance guarantees have been met.)In addition to the discrepancy between the two ad loads, the Fox and Telemundo measurements are at odds, as the English-language figures include pre-match coverage, while Telemundo’s reports are match-only averages. (For what it’s worth, the Peacock estimates add a further element of disparity, as Nielsen does not measure the streaming service.)Speaking of ad loads, the total World Cup spend across Fox and Telemundo had reached $666.3 million heading into Saturday’s bonkers third-place match between England and France. Per Guideline, which captures actual agency investment from the six major U.S. holding companies as well as most of the large independent shops, the overall ad investment for the first 102 of the 104 matches marked a 51% gain compared to the comparable stretch in 2022 ($441.9 million).Traditional television remained the dominant platform for this World Cup, although streaming share grew significantly compared to the previous event in Qatar. Per Guideline, the linear-TV networks accounted for $500.1 million in the total spend leading up to Saturday’s consolation match, while the streamers generated $166.2 million. The cycle-to-cycle boost is a function of the expansion of the World Cup field from 32 teams and 64 matches four years ago to the supersized 48-nation bracket introduced by FIFA this time around. Also helping boost the sales figures were the aforementioned hydration breaks and the audience-friendly staging of the event across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.