World Cup viewership records set for Fox and Telemundo broadcasts

The 2026 men's World Cup opened with record audiences for Fox and Telemundo. The opening match between Mexico and South Africa drew an average of 6.3 million viewers on Fox, the highest for a group-stage match not involving the U.S. The U.S. men's national team's match against Paraguay reached 15.99 million viewers, the most-watched such match in U.S. history. Spanish-language coverage for both matches also saw historic viewership, with 12.1 million viewers for the South Africa-Mexico contest. The combined audience for the U.S.-Paraguay match is expected to exceed 25 million. Official Nielsen figures will be released later this week.

• 4:03 PMYahoo Sports — World Cup Opens With Record TV Audiences for Fox, Telemundo