Spain’s victory over Argentina at Sunday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 final broke the record books in the United States—averaging 38,937,000 viewers watching on Fox, making it the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. TV history and most-watched FIFA World Cup final ever in the U.S., according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, on the Spanish language side, Telemundo and Peacock brought in 23.9 million viewers to the World Cup Final, also making it the most-watched soccer match ever in Spanish-language TV history.
Combined, that makes for a record-breaking 62.8 million viewers watching the match on Sunday, July 19.
On Fox, the numbers spiked at 5:45 p.m., when 51,685,000 viewers were watching as Spain secured the only goal of the game—cementing its 1-0 victory in extra time over Argentina.
The final was up 132 percent vs. FIFA World Cup 2022 final in Qatar (France vs. Argentina, Sunday morning Dec. 18, 2022, averaging 16,784,000 viewers) and up 240 percent vs. the FIFA World Cup 2018 final in Russia, (France vs. Croatia, Sunday morning July 15, 2018, with 11,441,000 viewers).
