​Fox’s coverage of Monday night’s World Cup clash between the United States Men’s National Team and Belgium on July 6 drew record ratings, averaging 33,086,000 viewers and marking it as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history. Those numbers are NFL-level for the Belgium-USMNT showdown, underscoring the event’s extraordinary reach. In fact, the telecast stood as the most-watched program on any network since Super Bowl LX, which drew 125.6 million viewers on February 8. Excluding football, the Belgium-USMNT match also ranked as the most-watched non-NFL telecast on any network since World Series Game 7 on November 2, 2016, which attracted 40.05 million viewers.
The U.S. Men’s National Team was eliminated as Belgium triumphed 4-1 in the Round of 16, delivering a commanding performance before a full house at Seattle’s stadium. Viewing peaked between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET, with an average of 41.03 million viewers tuning in during that window. Fox highlighted top local markets for the matchup, including Kansas City (19.80 rating/51 share), Boston (14.89 rating/38 share), Seattle (14.75 rating/50 share), St. Louis (14.48 rating/36 share), and Philadelphia (14.22 rating/38 share).
Overall, Fox Sports reports that for the Round of 16, the network averaged 14.465 million viewers, making it the most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup Round of 16 in English-language U.S. history. That figure represents a 216% increase over the 2022 Round of 16 average on Fox and FS1 (4.581 million).
The World Cup has continued to deliver staggering ratings for both Fox Sports and Telemundo/Peacock. Telemundo, buoyed by the tournament, has been the No. 1 Spanish-language network in total day for 25 straight days, from June 11 through July 5. On Sunday, July 5, Telemundo achieved the highest total-day average audience in Spanish TV history, with 3.6 million viewers, driven by the Mexico vs. England and Brazil vs. Norway Round of 16 matches. The 39-day competition began June 11 and is scheduled to conclude on July 19, showcasing the ongoing power of the World Cup to captivate audiences across platforms and languages.