Official TV audience for U.S. World Cup opener hits 27.5 million, a new record
· Yahoo Sports
When it comes to TV numbers, the official figure usually ends up being higher than the preliminary one. For the U.S. opener in the 2026 World Cup, that was definitely the case.
The official audience for Friday night's match between the United States and Paraguay, initially announced at 24.886 million, has risen to 27.5 million, via Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. That matches the Christmas Day audience that watched the Lions-Vikings game on Netflix, a regular-season streaming record.
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The total number reflects combined viewership on Fox and Tubi (which has the English language broadcast) and Telemundo and Peacock (which is carrying the Spanish version).
The Fox/Telemundo combo sets a record for a U.S. soccer audience, surpassing 26.7 million for both the 2002 and the 2014 World Cup finals.
And this was just the first game of group play. If the U.S. advances to the knockout stage, the number likely will be higher.
The farther the U.S. goes, the bigger and bigger the number will be. If the U.S. somehow makes it to the final game, the TV audience could be massive.