USMNT round of 32 World Cup win scores historic ratings

Field Level Media|published: Thu 2nd July, 20:12 2026

July 1, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Giovanni Reyna and Malik Tillman of the U.S. celebrate after the match as United States qualify for the round of 16 stage of the World Cup. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The United States' World Cup knockout victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday was the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in U.S. history, according to Fox Sports.

Fox reported a record-breaking average viewership of 24.429 million, citing Nielsen preliminary data. The peak audience clocked in at 31.883 million during the 9:45-10 p.m. ET window as the match neared its conclusion.

The co-hosts of this year's tournament, the United States played the round of 32 match in Santa Clara, Calif. It helped that the match began in prime time on the East Coast at 8 p.m. ET.

With goals by Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman, the U.S. beat Bosnia 2-0 to win a World Cup knockout stage for the first time since a round of 16 victory in 2002. They advanced to face Belgium on Monday in Seattle.

The average viewership came close to the numbers for the New York Knicks' title-clinching Game 5 win against the San Antonio Spurs last month, which posted 24.5 million viewers on average. Similarly, Game 7 of the World Series last fall, in which the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, put up an average of almost 26 million.

--Field Level Media

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