The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup has been off to quite the hot start this month.

Since opening weekend, the matches have already broken several U.S. viewership records. Things are still quite early, signaling even bigger audiences may be on the horizon during the later stages. For now, the USMNT’s win over Paraguay stands as not only the most-watched match of the 2026 World Cup in the U.S. thus far but also the most-watched World Cup telecast ever for English-language U.S. audiences with more than 18M viewers across Fox, FS1 and Tubi.

That is a 132% increase from the USMNT’s first World Cup group stage telecast on Fox in 2022, when the team faced Wales to the tune of 7.8M viewers. This year’s audience peaked with an impressive 21.5M viewers.

Brazil v. Morocco takes second place, but it’s not very close. The match scored 10M viewers on Fox alone, though, and final numbers with streaming aren’t quite available yet. So this will likely inch up. Still, it’s the most-watched non-USMNT FIFA Men’s World Cup group stage telecast in English-language U.S. history, up 212% from the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup non-USMNT Group Stage telecast average on Fox, which was 3.2M viewers.

From there, Argentina v. Algeria raked in 9.1M viewers, trailing closely behind Brazil-Morocco. Netherlands v. Japan and Mexico v. South Africa round out the Top 5 for now.

Check back throughout the tournament to see the biggest audiences for the 2026 World Cup.

  • USA v Paraguay: Group D – FIFA World Cup 2026 The USMNT’s opening group stage match against Paraguay currently stands as the most-watched Men’s World Cup telecast not only this year but ever for English-language U.S. audiences. Final numbers place the audience at 18M across Fox, FS1 and Tubi, which is up 132% from the first 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup Group Stage telecast on Fox (USMNT-Wales: 7.8M viewers on 11/21/22). The audience peaked with 21.5M viewers from 10:45-11:00 p.m. ET and is the most-streamed English-language USMNT match in FIFA World Cup history.
  • Brazil v Morocco: Group C – FIFA World Cup 2026 Per Fox, 10M viewers tuned in for Brazil v. Morocco’s group stage match, making it the most-watched non-USMNT FIFA Men’s World Cup group stage telecast in English-language U.S. history. The audience is up 212% from the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup non-USMNT Group Stage telecast average on Fox, which was 3.2M viewers. The match peaked with 13.1M viewers from 7:45-8:00 p.m. ET.
  • Argentina v Algeria: Group J – FIFA World Cup 2026 Messi’s 2026 World Cup debut raked in 9.1M viewers, making it the second most-watched FIFA Men’s World Cup non-USMNT Group Stage telecast in English-language U.S. history, only after Saturday’s Brazil-Morocco. The audience peaked with 10.5M viewers from 9:30 – 9:45 p.m. ET
  • Netherlands v Japan: Group F – FIFA World Cup 2026 This match scored 8.8M viewers and was, for a brief time, holding the title now claimed by Argentina-Algeria
  • Mexico v South Africa: Group A – FIFA World Cup 2026 With 7.2M viewers across Fox, FS1 and Tubi, Mexico-South Africa is the most-watched Men’s World Cup opening match in English-language U.S. history. The match is up 150% from the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup opening match on FS1 (Qatar-Ecuador on 11/20/22 – 2.9M viewers). It peaked with 4.1M viewers from 4:45-5:00 p.m. ET.
  • Germany v Curacao: Group E – FIFA World Cup 2026  Germany-Curaçao managed 6.3M viewers and peaked with 7.4M viewers
  • Haiti v Scotland: Group C – FIFA World Cup 2026 Hait-Scotland scored 6M viewers and peaked with 6.6M viewers
  • Iraq v Norway: Group I – FIFA World Cup 2026 Iraq-Norway delivered 5.9M viewers and peaked with 7.4M viewers
  • Qatar v Switzerland: Group B – FIFA World Cup 2026 Qatar-Switzerland tallied 5.4M viewers and peaked with 6.6M
  • France v Senegal: Group I – FIFA World Cup 2026 France-Senegal drove 5.1M viewers and peaked with 6.5M viewers

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Source: Deadline