USMNT Sets FIFA World Cup English-Language Telecast Record With 16M Viewers For Win Over Paraguay

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June 13, 2026 12:41pm

Pulisic, Balogun & Co.’s heroics at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium made World Cup television history. The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team’s opening match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered 15.986 million viewers across Fox, Fox One and Tubi to become USMNT‘s most watched English-language World Cup telecast ever, according to Fox Sports.

Helped by the game being held in the U.S. with no time zone difference in play, that was up +106% from USMNT’s comparable first group telecast at the 2022 World Cup, which was in Qatar. (U.S.-Wales, 7.763M on 11/21/22.)

USMNT’s dominant 4:1 win over Paraguay on the opening day of the tournament on American soil became the national team’s most streamed English-language match with 1.130M views.

The overall audience peaked at 18.860M from 10:45 – 11 PM ET, at the end of the second half.

USMNT’s next match is against Australia on June 19.

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