2026 World Cup: The (Record-Breaking) Numbers for the 2026 Tournament—The United States Is Celebrating, Too
There are still no official figures, but it is now clear that the 2026 World Cup will go down in history as the tournament of great records. FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised the new 48-team format, pointing to the next step: We recorded a record number of spectators in the stadiums—nearly 7 million. I mean, we’ll have—the official figures will be released soon—but probably over 6 billion people watched the matches from home,” said the FIFA president, as reported by ESPN.
American broadcasters are also celebrating. Fox announced that the Spain-Argentina final drew 38.937 million viewers, with a peak of 51.685 million, setting a new record for the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in U.S. history, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.
TV viewership remained high in the United States, even after the U.S. team was eliminated. And despite high ticket prices, most matches were played in packed stadiums. In short, the 2026 World Cup was a resounding success in terms of global viewership.
