World Cup final averages 66.4mn viewers in US

Viewership has soared throughout the competition, with the final delivering the biggest audience of the tournament

A TV screen shows a FIFA World Cup 2026 match on CazeTV, a Brazilian YouTube channel, in Sao Paulo, Brazil Jul 3, 2026. REUTERS/Jean Carniel

The World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday averaged a US TV audience of 66.4 million people.

Fox reported the staggering number Tuesday, citing Nielsen for the linear audience and Adobe Analytics for the streaming data. An average of 42.5 million watched the Spaniards' 1-0 victory on Fox, and 23.9 million watched the Telemundo broadcast.

Per Fox, it was the largest American TV audience for a non-Super Bowl sporting event since the 1994 Winter Olympics. Sports Media Watch noted that it was the largest TV audience for anything outside of NFL games and news events since the series finale of "Seinfeld" in 1998.

It capped a five-week tournament that captured Americans' attention as their nation co-hosted with Canada and Mexico, the first time since 1994 that the US hosted men's World Cup games.

The Spain-Argentina number came on the heels of an average audience of 50.1 million for the US men's national team's round of 16 loss to Belgium, along with the Mexico-England round of 16 showdown that racked up 46.7 million viewers on average.