The United States game against Belgium in the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup set another record as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history, Fox said after preliminary ratings came out Tuesday.
Fox said 30 million people watched the game, a 4-1 victory for Belgium on Monday in Seattle that moved them into the quarterfinals and eliminated the last of the tournament’s three co-hosts.
Fox said audience peaked at more than 36.8 million people between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET.
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That topped the previous mark, the U.S.-Bosnia-Herzegovina game last week that Fox said was watched by 26.4 million.
By comparison, the most-watched Super Bowl of all time came in 2025, when an average of 127.7 million viewers watched the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs across Fox, Fox Deportes, Telemundo and Tubi. The peak average audience of 137.7 million viewers during the second quarter.
Last month’s NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 20.6 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, according to Nielsen, its highest mark since 1998.
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The most-watched combined U.S. audience during the World Cup prior to Monday night was the Mexico-Ecuador game with 29.3 million viewers.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
