CORNERFLICK
The United States’ 4-1 win over Paraguay in the 2026 World Cup opener drew an average audience of 24.886 million across Fox and Telemundo, the biggest TV audience ever for a US men’s national team match.
The figure tops the previous USMNT record of 24.7 million for the 2-2 draw with Portugal at the 2014 World Cup. It also beat the 23.8 million average for Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
Fox averaged 15.986 million viewers, setting a record for the most-watched group-stage World Cup match ever in the United States in English. Telemundo recorded 8.9 million viewers, its biggest audience ever for a US men’s national team game on Spanish-language television.
The match peaked at 18.86 million viewers between 10.45pm and 11pm Eastern time, while Tubi logged 1.13 million streams, another record for a US men’s team game in digital viewing.
The game was shown on a busy sports night, with Mexico v South Africa and the NBA Finals also on. Even so, the US match drew the largest audience and set new marks across broadcast and streaming.