U.S. World Cup Loss to Belgium Averages 33.1 Million Viewers, the Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in U.S. History

Fox’s coverage of Monday night’s World Cup match between the United States’ Men’s National Soccer Team and Belgium on Monday, July 6, scored record ratings, averaging 33,086,000 viewers — making it the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history.

That’s NFL-level numbers for the Belgium-USMNT faceoff. In fact, this made it the most-watched telecast on any network since Super Bowl LX posted 125.6 million viewers on Feb. 8.

Take the football out of the equation, and the Belgium-USMNT match was the most-watched non-NFL telecast on any network since the World Series Game 7 on Nov. 2, 2016 (40.05 million).

The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team was eliminated from the World Cup as the competition ended up being a rout by Belgium, which won 4-1 during the Round of 16 in front of a full crowd at Seattle Stadium. Viewership for the match peaked between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET, when an average of 41.03 million viewers were watching.

According to Fox, top local markets watching the Belgium-USMNT showdown included Kansas City (19.80 rating/51 share), Boston (14.89 rating/38 share), Seattle (14.75 rating/50 shate), St. Louis (14.48 rating/36 share) and Philadelphia (14.22 rating/38 share).

Overall for the Round of 16, Fox Sports reports it has averaged 14.465 million viewers, making it the most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup Round of 16 in English-language U.S. history. That’s up 216% from the 2022 Round of 16 average on Fox and FS1 (4.581 million).

The 2026 World Cup has continued to be a ratings juggernaut for both Fox Sports and Telemundo/Peacock. Thanks to the World Cup, Telemundo reports that it has ranked as the No. 1 Spanish-language network during total day for 25 consecutive days, from June 11 through July 5. On Sunday, July 5, Telemundo averaged the highest total day average audience in Spanish TV history, with 3.6 million viewers (led by the Mexico vs. England and Brazil vs. Norway Round of 16 matches).

The 39-day competition began June 11 and is set to conclude on July 19.