The game was a letdown for fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team, but the TV audience set another record for the sport in this country.
Early Nielsen ratings show 30 million people watched Fox’s telecast of Belgium’s 4-1 victory over the United States Monday night in the World Cup‘s round of 16. That figure is likely to go up when final ratings, which will include Nielsen’s big data component and more complete out of home figures, are released later in the week.
The preliminary ratings, however, easily clear the previous all-time high for an English-langauge soccer telecast in the United States. That record of 26.4 million viewers lasted all of five days — it was set in the previous U.S. match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1.
The audience peaked at 36.9 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 p.m., partway through the second half. Data for Telemundo and Peacock’s Spanish-language telecast wasn’t immediately available, but it’s likely the combined total will pass 40 million viewers.
The U.S.-Belgium match was surrounded by controversy as FIFA, soccer’s governing body, waived a red card suspension for U.S. striker Falorin Balogun before the match, allowing him to play. Reports said the U.S. Soccer Federation had threatened legal action against FIFA for what it believed was a misapplied use of video review that led to Balogun’s ejection in the previous game; President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying he called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino about lifting the suspension.
With the U.S. loss, all three co-hosts are now out of the competition as it heads into the quarterfinals. Canada and Mexico lost in their round of 16 matches as well. England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico Sunday night also set a new mark for a Spanish-language soccer telecast in the United States with 23.1 million viewers. Like Fox, Telemundo has set multiple viewing records during this World Cup, the first in North America since 1994.
Pending updates for Monday’s match, the five U.S. games averaged better than 21 million viewers on Fox.
With the United States and Mexico both out, the remaining games in the World Cup may not reach record highs, but they should continue to pull in strong ratings. Several games so far not involving either team have drawn better than 10 million viewers. The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France brought in a combined 26.78 million viewers (16.78 million on Fox, 9 million on Telemundo and Peacock).