U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
The United States men’s national team stole headlines with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in its World Cup opener Friday, but the game’s viewership numbers were perhaps even more impressive.
Friday night’s U.S.-Paraguay contest was the most-watched USMNT telecast ever and the most-viewed FIFA Men’s World Cup Group Stage telecast in English-language US history, with 15,986,000 viewers tuning in, Fox Sports said Saturday.
Viewership was up 106 percent from the first USMNT Group Stage telecast on Fox in 2022, where 7,763,000 people tuned into a 1-1 draw against Wales.
The game’s peak audience was from 10:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, when 18,860,000 people watched.
But even with Friday night’s historically high viewership numbers, it wasn’t the only game that drew an astounding number of viewers.
Thursday’s tilt between Mexico and South Africa, where Mexico won 2-0, was the most-watched English-language U.S. telecast of a men’s World Cup opener ever.
Per a combination of Nielsen ratings and internal data, 6.3 million viewers tuned into the match across Fox, Fox One and Tubi.
Viewership for the Mexico-South Africa clash was also up 97 percent from the average non-USMNT Group Stage telecast average on Fox in 2022, with audience peaking around 4:15 to 4:30 p.m. with just over 8 million viewers.
The historic viewership numbers coincide with an alarming number of empty seats being available at World Cup games so far, largely due to fans’ concerns over ticket prices.
Thousands of seats were vacant in Mexico on Thursday night for the South Korea-Czech Republic match despite FIFA downplaying the issue.
Still, Friday night’s historic ratings boom for the USMNT was for good reason, as the team controlled the match from start to finish.
The USMNT jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after an own goal before Folarin Balogun added two goals to give it a 3-0 halftime advantage.
Despite Christian Pulisic leaving the game early, Gio Reyna tacked on the finishing touches with a late goal to seal the 4-1 win.
With the win under its belt, the USMNT has a week to prepare for its June 19 test against Australia.
