The World Cup is off to a record start for both Fox Sports and Telemundo. The men’s national soccer team’s victory over Paraguay on Friday drew about 16 million viewers, making it the most-watched USMNT World Cup telecast in English history, according to Fox Sports ratings.
Meanwhile, Telemundo reports that Thursday’s victory between Mexico and South Africa had 12.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Cup match in Spanish-language history.
Friday’s game between the United States and Paraguay, played here at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., averaged 15.986 million viewers across Fox, Fox One and Tubi. Viewership peaked at 18.86 million at 10:45 p.m. ET. The match was also the most streamed English USMNT match ever, with 1.13 million viewers on Tubi.
The U.S. vs. Paraguay game (which the U.S. won 4-1) was a whopping 106% increase compared to the 2022 Men’s World Cup USMNT Group Stage 1, which was televised on Fox (7.76 million viewers on Nov. 21, 2022, when the team played Wales).
Friday’s showdown between the United States and Paraguay also broke the Spanish-language record with an average audience of 8.9 million viewers on the Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms. This makes the game the most-watched USMNT World Cup game ever on Spanish-language television. The game was also the most-watched World Cup group stage game that did not feature Mexico on Spanish-language television.
Like Fox, Telemundo also recorded a significant increase compared to Wales in 2022. That was a staggering 156% increase (3.5 million viewers at the time).
Thursday’s 2-0 win between Mexico and South Africa was not only the most-watched World Cup match in Spanish-language history, but also the most-streamed Mexico World Cup match in Spanish-language history, as well as the most-streamed group stage match in Spanish-language history.
It also marked the most-watched World Cup opening game ever, regardless of language. And the game, regardless of language, became the most-watched game of the World Cup group stage in which the U.S. team did not participate.
World Cup coverage continues Saturday night with Haiti vs. Scotland at 8pm ET/5pm PT and Australia vs. Turkiye at 11pm ET/8pm PT.
