As the 2026 FIFA World Cup moved into the 32-team knockout stage, Fox Sports said viewer interest in the tournament is still strong.
Fox’s June 19 coverage of four matches set an English-language record for the largest full-day audience of men’s World Cup coverage in the U.S., the network said.
The United States-Australia match attracted 16.217 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched English-language group stage telecast in the U.S. ever, followed by 9.174 million average viewers (10.548 million peak viewers) for Scotland-Mexico.
The day also saw 8.741 million viewers (9.894 million peak viewers) for Brazil-Haiti and 2.752 million viewers (3.157 million peak viewers) for Turkey-Paraguay.
Team USA’s 2-0 defeat of Australia had a peak audience of 21.219 million and was the top-rated Friday-afternoon telecast on broadcast TV since Fox’s Christmas Day Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints NFL telecast in 2020.
It was also the second-most-watched U.S. men’s national team game since the U.S.-Paraguay group-stage World Cup match on June 12.
