​On Monday night, the U.S. vs. Belgium Round of 16 clash drew an audience that climbed to 42 million viewers across Fox, Telemundo, and Peacock. That figure, impressive as it is, wasn’t even the week’s largest American TV audience. According to Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal, Sunday night’s England vs. Mexico game drew nearly 45 million viewers, underscoring how soccer has firmly established itself as a mainstream sport in the United States.
The total audience for England versus Mexico breaks down into about 23.1 million viewers on Telemundo and Peacock, with roughly 21.742 million tuning in on Fox. When you add those streams together, the global audience for that matchup reached approximately 44.842 million viewers. By comparison, the NFL’s AFC and NFC Championship Games in January averaged about 47.4 million viewers, illustrating that while soccer draws enormous numbers, American football still commands a slightly larger TV audience on a single game basis.
These figures reinforce the growing prominence of soccer in the U.S. television landscape. Even as the U.S. and Mexican teams have exited the tournament, there remains strong potential for sizable audiences to tune in for the remaining seven matches, suggesting continued high viewership momentum for World Cup soccer in this country. The rising demand for American broadcasts of the sport is also connected to broader economic implications: the U.S. television rights deal for the 2030 World Cup is anticipated to surge dramatically, from about $485 million to as much as $2 billion, reflecting escalating values as the sport cements its mainstream status.
This shifting viewership dynamic aligns with broader trends in sports broadcasting, where marquee matchups across soccer continue to attract large, diverse audiences. The integration of multiple platforms—Fox, Telemundo, and Peacock—facilitates increased reach, enabling more fans to watch the game on their preferred devices and networks. The audience totals from these broadcasts not only highlight the sport’s growing popularity but also signal a new era of American sports viewing, where soccer challenges traditional sports in terms of sheer scale and engagement.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the tournament, executives and analysts will likely watch the ratings closely to gauge whether the momentum persists, particularly as teams from North America remain competitive and as the broadcast strategy continues to leverage cross-platform distribution. If these patterns hold, the demand for World Cup soccer on U.S. soil will continue to strengthen, reinforcing the case for expansive investments in future World Cup rights and related programming.