Just one day after Fox Sports’ coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-finals broke records, they set records again. Wednesday’s hard-hitting match between Argentina and England averaged 15.063 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup semi-final match in English history.
This surpassed Tuesday’s match between Spain and France, which held the previous record with an average audience of 11.462 million viewers.
The match between Argentina and England ended in a last-minute victory for Argentina, who won 2-1 and will now face Spain in the final on Sunday. The match between Argentina and England in Atlanta peaked at 22.177 million viewers between 4:45pm and 5pm ET.
It was also the most-watched Wednesday afternoon television show in Fox history. (Admittedly, Fox doesn’t typically air in the afternoons, at least not regularly since it launched Fox Kids in late 2001.)
This telecast was up +131% compared to the average 2022 FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals telecast on FOX (6.531 million viewers).
England looked set to win the semi-final match, but they scored in the 55th minute with a goal from Anthony Gordon and an assist from Morgan Rodgers. However, in the 87th minute, Argentina’s Enzo Fernandes scored a goal to tie the game. Four minutes later, Lionel Messi played a pass to Lautaro Martinez, giving Argentina a 2-1 lead.
This allowed defending World Cup winners Argentina to advance to the final, while England continue their drought of not winning the World Cup since 1966.
Prior to this week’s match, the most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup semi-final to date in English-speaking countries in the United States was France vs. Morocco in 2022, when 6.595 million viewers tuned in on FOX. Ratings for this match also increased by 76% compared to the average for the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finals on FOX (6.531 million viewers).
