The United States men’s national team opened its 2026 World Cup campaign with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The match, which drew a reported crowd of 70,492, set a record for the most-watched U.S. Men’s national team FIFA Men’s World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. History. According to preliminary overnight data from Fox, Telemundo, and Nielsen, the game reached an average of 24.886 million viewers across all networks and streaming platforms. Fox reported an average of 15.986 million viewers on its broadcast and simulcasts on Fox One and Tubi, reaching a peak of 18.86 million viewers between 10:45 and 11 p.m. ET. Telemundo reported an average of 8.9 million viewers on its linear network and streaming platforms, including Peacock. The viewership figures represent a significant increase over previous tournaments. Fox reported that the average viewership was a 106% increase over the 2022 U.S. Group-stage opener against Wales, which averaged about 11.7 million viewers in the U.S. The New York Times noted that the 2022 match drew nearly 12 million viewers total, while the 2026 opener between Mexico and South Africa averaged 6.31 million viewers on Fox. The tournament has seen high interest since its start. The Mexico versus South Africa match was reported by Sports Media Watch as the “most-watched non-U.S. World Cup group stage match ever on English-language TV.” also, Fox noted that the U.S. Men’s national team’s average viewership was not far behind the average of just over 16 million viewers for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.