The interest that the 2026 World Cup has sparked in the United States continues to break audience records. The duel between Mexico and England for the round of 16 established a new record for Spanish-language television, becoming the broadcast with the highest number of viewers in the history of the country in that language.

According to NBC Universal, the meeting, broadcast by Telemundo, brought together 23.2 million viewers, an unprecedented figure for a Spanish-language broadcast on US territory. The match, played on Sunday at the Azteca Stadium and which ended with a 3-2 English victory, surpassed all previous references for this type of broadcast.

The impact of the match was also reflected by adding the audience of the networks that offered the match in both languages. Fox reported that, along with Telemundo, the matchup reached a combined audience of 46.7 million people, establishing itself as the most watched World Cup match on English-language television when the United States national team is not part of the match.

That record was only surpassed by the duel between the United States and Belgium, played on Monday, which accumulated 50.1 million viewers between broadcasts in English and Spanish. According to Fox analyst Michael Mulvihill, both games are already among the most watched sporting events in the United States outside the NFL since 1994.

Mexico dominates the main World Cup audience records

The Mexican team has been the protagonist of much of the television success of the tournament. According to NBC Universal, four of the five most watched matches in Spanish during this World Cup feature the tricolor team.

In addition to the clash against England, the match against Ecuador appears, which brought together 18.9 million viewers; the commitment against Korea, with 14 million; and the duel against Czechia, followed by 12.3 million people. The only non-Mexico match in that group corresponds to Brazil against Norway, which registered an audience of 13.8 million.

In a statement, NBC highlighted the magnitude of the achievement achieved by the Mexico-England broadcast.

“Mexico vs. England becomes the most watched soccer match in the history of Spanish-language media in total audience and sets a new linear record as the highest broadcast in history in Spanish.”

The figures also reflect the general behavior of the tournament. During the first 25 days of competition, with a total of 92 matches played, the joint coverage of Telemundo, Universo and Peacock has averaged 5.5 million viewers in Total Audience Delivery (TAD), according to information released by the network.

The growth of World Cup following is not limited to screens. FIFA also reported an attendance of more than 6.25 million fans in the stadiums distributed between the United States, Mexico and Canada, establishing the largest in-person attendance recorded at a World Cup.

With records both on television and in stage attendance, the 2026 World Cup continues to establish itself as one of the sporting events with the greatest impact in the recent history of the continent.