While the U.S. isn't a bona fide soccer nation yet, the past three weeks have perhaps shown what it would feel like if it were.

Audiences are flocking to Telemundo and Peacock’s Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup – so much so that the network is capturing nearly half of all U.S. viewers tuning in.

FIFA World Cup 2026™ Group Stage Averages a Total Audience Delivery of 4.6 million viewers in Spanish, Up 122% vs. 2022 Group Stage

Both Fox and Telemundo have posted an extensive series of audience records.

Most-Watched Group Stage in English-Language U.S. History Up +92% vs. 2022 Averaging 5,052,000 Viewers Across FOX, FS1 and Tubi  The Stars and Stripes Dominate with Three Most-Watched USMNT FIFA World Cup™ Telecasts in English-Language U.

A home World Cup and the associated American-friendly time zones are paying off in a big way for Fox and Telemundo. Through Sunday’s matches, viewership for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is up a whopping 152% across Fox and FS1 versus the Group Stage average during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Viewership of FIFA World Cup 2026™ Averages 7.5 Million Viewers, Up +234% vs. 2022 Through First Twelve Games. USA Opener on Friday is Most-Watched USMNT FIFA World Cup™ Match

The 2026 Men's World Cup matches have already broken viewership records. Things are still early, so bigger audiences may be on the horizon.

With the United States men’s national soccer team into the knockout stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Fox Sports has high viewership expectations for the rest of the tournament. “The round of 32 game and the round of 16 game,

Last Friday’s Night of Champions go-home edition of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.206 million viewers on USA, up 1.3% from the previous week and their highest marks in five weeks. The show averaged a 0.22 rating in the 18-49 demo which was down 12% from the prior week and ties the second lowest rating it has done in that category since January 23.

The beautiful game seems to have captured the imagination of the United States, as it is putting up record-high viewership numbers. With the FIFA World Cup being held partly in the United States, the hope was that the general population would start getting invested in the sport.