A record-setting number of fans in the U.S. tuned in for England’s win over Norway. Mauro Pimentel / Getty Images
July 13, 2026 5:47 pm EDT Updated
Another game, another U.S. TV record.
Powered in part by England’s established U.S. fan base and an equally widespread (if relatively newfound) fascination with World Cup uber-star Erling Haaland, Saturday’s World Cup match between England and Norway drew the largest TV audience ever for a World Cup quarterfinal English-language telecast in the U.S.
The game on Fox averaged 19.48 million viewers, with a peak of nearly 25 million during the extra time.
Later that evening, Argentina-Switzerland drew just shy of 16 million viewers, making it the second most-watched World Cup quarterfinal English-language telecast in U.S. history.
That capped a superlative week of World Cup TV viewing in the U.S., including the U.S. loss to Belgium, which was the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history. Ahead of that, Mexico-England’s match-up in the round of 16 became the most-watched Spanish-language soccer broadcast in U.S. history.
One of the throughputs of the tournament has been consistently high TV ratings from U.S. viewers — on both Fox and Telemundo, which carries Spanish-language broadcasts in the U.S. — all month long, as the combination of U.S.-friendly kickoff times, star power, compelling narratives, contagious fan fervor and a revamped Nielsen audience-accounting methodology that more accurately captures factors like “out of home” viewing that is such a strong part of World Cup viewing culture.
Given the tournament’s top four seeds are playing in the semifinals — France vs. Spain on Tuesday in Dallas, England vs. Argentina on Wednesday in Atlanta — and both games feature some of the world’s most popular players, like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Lionel Messi, audience interest should remain high, despite mid-week, mid-afternoon kickoff times that typically keep sports TV in the U.S. from reaching record-setting levels.
But with this 2026 World Cup and its month-long run of sustained audience viewership, it would be folly to doubt fans’ enthusiasm to tune in.
Jul 13, 2026
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