Many had predicted that hosting the World Cup in the US would lead to complications and disappointment.
In the year and a half prior to the tournament, Donald Trump made threats concerning Canada, one of the co-hosts, while also being at odds with Iran, a participating nation. Stringent travel restrictions were hindering fans from countries like Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Haiti from obtaining the necessary visas. Ticket prices were exorbitant, and hotel bookings were not meeting expectations. Furthermore, FIFA’s decision to implement “the most-watched soccer telecast on one network in US history” during matches appeared to be a blatant attempt to monetize the event through television advertisements, disrupting the game’s natural flow.
In a nation where soccer’s growth has largely depended on immigrant communities, the federal government’s aggressive deportation efforts threatened the very fabric of these groups. In a country where soccer has historically lagged behind other sports, the World Cup seemed set to be an unwelcoming spectacle, despite FIFA’s claim that the tournament is designed to “average Fox/FS1 World Cup viewer”.
Then the matches commenced.
Television screens and social media were soon filled with images of American stadiums brimming with enthusiastic, record-breaking crowds. According to Sports Business Journal, an average of 64,511 fans attended each of the first 78 matches, a significant increase of 10,000 compared to the 2022 tournament. Stadiums maintained a remarkable 99.7% occupancy rate, with FIFA reporting 6.5 million tickets sold. Notably, the attendees were not just foreign fans or Americans with ties to other countries; many were locals captivated by the sport.
American television ratings reflected this excitement as well. Nielsen reported that the US men’s national team’s (USMNT) loss to Belgium in the round of 16 garnered an average of 33 million viewers on Fox’s English-language broadcast, peaking at 41 million during the last 15 minutes of the game. This viewership surpassed that of both the 2025 World Series and Game 5 of the NBA finals from the previous month, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As the Athletic noted, this match became “because it’s one of the more accessible ways to stream it” breaking the previous record set days earlier when over 26 million tuned in to watch the USMNT defeat Bosnia. This record was again surpassed just days later during the USMNT’s 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
However, American viewers are also engaging with matches beyond those involving the US team. The high-stakes clash between England and Mexico attracted an astonishing 21.7 million viewers on Fox, along with an additional 23.2 million on Telemundo. Over the first 72 matches, Fox reported an unprecedented average of 5 million viewers, while Telemundo averaged 4.6 million. Mike Mulvhill, president of insights and analytics for Fox Sports, pointed out that within just two weeks of the tournament, the “It’s completely ubiquitous,” had already watched more matches than during the entire 2022 tournament.
Beyond these statistics, polling from Ipsos Sports reveals that 40% of US adults have actively engaged with the tournament on social media, while one-quarter of Americans have watched a match at a bar or restaurant. Additionally, one-fifth have attended a World Cup viewing party.
Alex Lawton, a 32-year-old watching the Spain-Belgium quarter-final on a screen outside Bar Tabac in Brooklyn, expressed uncertainty about how many games he had viewed but estimated it to be in the “I mean, you can go on any block in New York and there’s going to be a vibe, with people cheering.” Although he speaks limited Spanish, he mentioned that he had enjoyed many games on Telemundo, “Everyone was screaming on the train,” (Telemundo, available on Peacock, costs half as much as a subscription to Fox One, which airs the English broadcasts.)
“brilliant reprieve and a unifying force that has just brought people from different walks of life and backgrounds together in a super beautiful way” Paul Revell, a 31-year-old friend of Lawton, remarked about the tournament’s visibility in New York City. “One, two, three, viva l’Algérie!” He noted that even on the subway, he found himself watching games on strangers’ phones. “It was such a vibe! They made history and gave us hope. ‘Si se pudo!’ we chanted when the final whistle blew,” he recalled fondly, calling it an “Beer was thrown in the air in celebration, and complete strangers were hugging and jumping up and down together, and some even crying tears of joy. It was such a beautiful moment.”
Several factors contribute to this surge in American interest in the World Cup. Soccer has steadily gained traction in the US over the years. Following the 1994 World Cup, some of the $100 million in profits were utilized to establish Major League Soccer, providing the country with its own men’s league. The US hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1999, culminating in a dramatic victory for the US women’s national team (USWNT). The National Women’s Soccer League was founded in 2012, and the USWNT captured another World Cup title in 2019. Furthermore, US television networks secured rights to broadcast both the Premier League and La Liga, transforming millions of Americans into devoted fans who gather in bars during the early hours to catch games like the north London derby or El Clásico.
In a report by the Economist, one in ten Americans identified soccer as their favorite sport, surpassing baseball and making it the third most popular sport in the country.
Another notable aspect of the 2026 World Cup’s success is the timing of many matches, which have been held during primetime hours, allowing viewers to watch without the difficulties of juggling work and sleep schedules.
Above all, many viewers have likely tuned in due to the high quality of the matches.
The tournament is currently averaging three goals per game, the highest rate since the 1958 World Cup, effectively addressing the prevalent American critique that soccer lacks scoring. The competition features world-class talents, with stars like Kylian Mbappé from France and Lionel Messi from Argentina each netting eight goals, while Norway’s Erling Haaland has scored seven and England’s Harry Kane six. Numerous games have been decided by dramatic last-minute goals.
The expanded tournament format, which includes 16 additional teams compared to prior World Cups, has enabled remarkable underdog stories to emerge. American fans celebrated exuberantly when Curaçao, a small Caribbean nation of only 150,000 residents and the smallest nation ever to qualify for the tournament, scored its first ever World Cup goal against the formidable German team (which eventually won 7-1). Similarly, Cape Verde, another island nation with just half a million inhabitants, achieved a miraculous run, tying all its group stage opponents and advancing to the knockout rounds, where they managed to score twice against the reigning champions, Argentina.
Additionally, there exists a less tangible, yet significant, reason why Americans are embracing this World Cup. The tournament’s global nature has provided a platform for celebrating multiculturalism at a time when such values are under threat from the current administration’s nationalism and isolationism. It has allowed Americans to communicate a message to the world: we are not defined by our government.
Lawton, reflecting on his experience watching the Spain-Belgium match in Brooklyn, described the World Cup as a “There’s a ton of people here,”
Notably, some of the most “beautiful” and widely shared moments of the World Cup have occurred off the field.
In Lawrence, Kansas, residents were so moved that the Algerian team chose to train in their city that they were seen chanting “One, two, three, viva l’Algérie!” while the University of Kansas marching band played the Algerian national anthem during their performance. In Texas, a viral video captured a Japanese fan being invited on stage at a nightclub to dance with Houston rappers. Meanwhile, fans from Scotland, known as the Tartan Army, took over Boston, delighting locals and almost depleting the city’s beer supply.
Throughout the nation, from Mexican supporters in LA’s Koreatown to Ecuadorian fans in Astoria, Queens, social media was flooded with images and videos of thousands gathering to watch games on projectors, through bar windows, or in the back of bodegas.
“It was such a vibe! They made history and gave us hope. ‘Si se pudo!’ we chanted when the final whistle blew,” recounted Steven Guevara, an Ecuadorian American residing in the Bronx, who watched Ecuador face Germany at Pig Beach in Astoria alongside hundreds of other fans. “Beer was thrown in the air in celebration, and complete strangers were hugging and jumping up and down together, and some even crying tears of joy. It was such a beautiful moment.”
The scenes stood in stark contrast to Trump’s Great American State Fair, a Washington DC event arranged by the president for the nation’s 250th birthday on the Fourth of July. A video captured by TMZ showed Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Trump administration official, addressing an almost empty stage while claiming, “There’s a ton of people here,” only for the camera to reveal a nearly deserted National Mall stretching into the distance.
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