Spain’s victory over Argentina at Sunday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 final broke the record books in the United States — averaging 38,937,000 viewers watch on Fox, making it the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. TV history and most-watched FIFA World Cup final ever in the U.S., according to Nielsen.
Telemundo/Peacock ratings are still to come, likely to help push the total number even higher when both English and Spanish-lingo broadcasts are tallied together.
On Fox, the numbers spiked at 5:45 p.m., when 51,685,000 viewers were watching as Spain secured the only goal of the game — cementing its 1-0 victory in extra time over Argentina.
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The final was up 132% vs. FIFA World Cup 2022 final in Qatar (France vs. Argentina, Sunday morning Dec. 18, 2022, averaging 16,784,000 viewers) and up 240% vs. the FIFA World Cup 2018 final in Russia, (France vs. Croatia, Sunday morning July 15, 2018, with 11,441,000 viewers)
The thriller of a World Cup final was completely dominated by Spain, which controlled the ball from virtually the start of the match. But despite multiple shots by Spain, Argentina deftly defended its goal — forcing the match to go into extra time. Finally, in minute 106, substitute Ferran Torres scored a goal for Spain, securing them the World Cup victory and denying Argentina a back-to-back win.
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