US-Belgium at World Cup is most-watched soccer telecast in US history at 30M viewers, Fox says
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA - JULY 6: Fans of USA gather downtown Redwood City,California, United States on July 6, 2026 to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round 16 match between USA vs Belgium which held in Seattle, Washington. (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu / Getty Images)
The U.S. game against Belgium in the round of 16 at the World Cup set another record as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history, Fox said after preliminary ratings came out Tuesday.
Fox said 30 million people watched the game, a 4-1 victory for Belgium on Monday in Seattle to move into the quarterfinals and eliminate the last of the tournament’s three co-hosts. Fox said the audience peaked at more than 36.8 million people between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
That topped the previous mark, the U.S.-Bosnia-Herzegovina game last week that Fox said was watched by 26.4 million.
Fox on Tuesday also reported the 11.1 million viewers who tuned in to the Portugal-Croatia match in the round of 32 were the most in English language history in the United States for any World Cup game without the U.S. team, excluding the final. Fox said viewership peaked at more than 16 million for a wild finish.
The Source: Information in this story came from The Associated Press.
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