World Cup final between Spain and Argentina draws a record number of American viewers

The biggest World Cup in history was capped off with a grand finale that was seen by over a billion fans all across the planet. A record setting amount of fans from this country tuned in to watch Spain earn their second star as the game continues to grow in the United States.

The biggest World Cup ever

It’s been 32 years since the first World Cup hosted on American soil came to and end, and soccer has come a long way in this country over the last three decades. Americans are now playing overseas. Big stars from overseas are playing in the MLS, a league that hadn’t even been created in 1994. America isn’t a soccer superpower yet, but the ground work is being laid and the sport is becoming more popular each and every year.

We have better players than we did back in the 90s, and the domestic league has come along way, but the best indicator of just how much this sport has taken off is the TV ratings of the World Cup final. Spain’s 1-0 extra time win over Argentina peaked at a record 63 million people in the United States between English and Spanish language broadcasts.

There were a reported 39 million viewers that watched the game on Fox, and another 24 million that tuned into to watch the match on Telemundo. Obviously the latin influence in the United States has made a big impact on the love of the game in this country as you can see with the audience that tuned into the Spanish broadcast of the final.

Where do we go from here?

This year’s final demolished the previous record of viewers for a World Cup final that was set back in 2022 when France and Argentina met in a thriller to bring an end to the tournament in Qatar. Four years ago, there were a total of 26.7 million viewers that tuned into the final of the only winter World Cup ever to be played. That edged the 2010 World Cup in which 26.5 million people tuned in to watch Germany beat Argentina from Brazil.

You can attribute these record setting to a few different factors. First of all, the United States was one of the three co-hosts of the World Cup. With the tournament, fans, and atmosphere all around, it was easy for the non-fan to get caught up into the fever of the biggest sporting event on earth. Another reason we saw record setting viewership is because of the timezone. The game was played at 3:00 p.m. ET on a Sunday. That was a very accessible match for many fans across the country. While we can sit and say that the factors at hand are the reason for the 60+ million fans that watched the final, the fact is, the game is growing in this country.

The World Cup back in 1994 introduced the game to a nation. Three decades later, soccer is one of the sports that kids most play across the country. People wake up early to watch European league matches on the weekend. Champions League matches have become part of our mid-week routine. The growth over the last 30 years has been exponential, and if we continue on the same path, it won’t be long until soccer will be on the same level as the four major leagues in this country. Hopefully that will turn us into a soccer superpower by the next World Cup.

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