A historic number of people in the United States tuned in to watch Spain’s 1-0 win over Argentina to claim the World Cup title on Sunday afternoon.
Fox announced on Tuesday that 38.937 million people watched Spain’s win in the World Cup final, which made it the most-watched soccer telecast in United States history. The game peaked at just more than 51.6 million viewers, too.
By comparison, Argentina’s win in the 2022 World Cup final only drew about 16.7 million viewers — though that contest was held in Qatar in December that year and at an awkward time for an American audience. The NBA Finals earlier this summer averaged more than 20 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, which made it the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998.
This year’s match was also the most-watched non-NFL telecast on any network since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. The Chicago Cubs’ win that year drew more than 40 million viewers on Fox. Spain’s win over Argentina also broke the previous mark that the United States men’s national team set when 30 million people watched them lose to Belgium earlier this month.
While the World Cup final number is impressive, the Super Bowl still dominates in the United States. Super Bowl LX earlier this year averaged about 125 million viewers.
Spain beat Lionel Messi and Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon in New Jersey thanks to an extra-time goal from Ferran Torres. It marked Spain’s first World Cup title since 2010, and stopped Messi and Argentina from winning in back-to-back tournaments.
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