newsweek
The U.S.
men's national soccer team's 2-0 World Cup victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina has become the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in American television history.
The broadcast drew a peak audience of around 31.8 million viewers and an average of 24.4 million, Fox Sports revealed.
An additional 9.1 viewers tuned in to the Spanish-language Telemundo across the game.
The knockout-stage match has become one of the highest viewed sports events of the last year.
World Cup Viewership Competing With Other Major Sporting Events Wednesdays match surpassed the previous English-language soccer game record of 22.3 million viewers for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup final between the U.S.
and Japan, Fox Sports said.
The previous three USMNT group-stage matches against Paraguay, Turkey and Australia were watched by an average of around 18 million, 17 million and 16 million respectively, per Nielsen.
The viewing figures of the record-breaking match are comparable with other major sporting events that aired in the U.S.
over the last year.
The NBA Finals, in which the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs last month, averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, according to Nielsen, which was the highest number since 1998.
The final game of the Major League Baseballs 2025 World Series averaged 27.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
And the NFLs Sunday Night Football averaged 23.5 million viewers on NBC in its last season.
However, these figures are still dwarfed by the Super Bowlthe most watched sports event across the countrywith this years game drawing an average of 125.6 million viewers across various platforms, according to Nielsen.
World Cup Attracting a Growing US Audience The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, giving American fans unprecedented access through home venues, favorable kick-off times and wall-to-wall domestic coverage.
The tournament appears to be attracting far more casual U.S.
viewers than previous editions, suggesting the World Cup is reaching beyond traditional soccer fans and drawing in wider television audiences.
By comparison, the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France drew 25.8 million viewers between Fox and Telemundo.
The USMNTs most-watched game of that tournament was a group-stage match against England, which drew 19.9 million viewers across Fox and Telemundo, followed by 16.5 million for their last-16 defeat to the Netherlands.
The U.S.
has now progressed to the last 16 World Cup and will next play Belgium on Monday, which is sure to also draw a large audience.