USMNT Round of 32 Win Sets Record TV Viewership

The United States men's national soccer team's victory in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, set a new record for television viewership of a soccer match in the United States. The 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, drew a combined average audience of approximately 33.5 million viewers across English and Spanish-language broadcasts.

Preliminary Nielsen data shows the English-language broadcast on Fox averaged 24.43 million viewers, making it the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in U.S. history. The broadcast peaked at nearly 32 million viewers late in the match. Telemundo's Spanish-language telecast added an average of 9.1 million viewers. The combined total of 33.53 million viewers surpasses the previous U.S. record of 26.7 million set during the 2015 Women's World Cup final.

The match was a significant on-field milestone, marking the U.S. men's first victory in a World Cup knockout stage match since 2002. The team advanced despite playing the final 25 minutes with ten men after star striker Folarin Balogun received a controversial red card in the 64th minute. Balogun had opened the scoring with...