Spanish World Cup group stage coverage accounts for nearly half of overall viewership

Telemundo’s Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage has delivered record audiences, with nearly half of all U.S. World Cup viewing coming through Spanish-language coverage.

Across 72 group-stage matches from June 11 to 27, 2026, Telemundo and Peacock accounted for 48% of the combined U.S. World Cup audience, according to NBCUniversal. The company noted that U.S. Hispanics represent about 20% of the country’s population.

The group stage averaged 4.6 million viewers in total audience delivery across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, up 122% from the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

English-language coverage is handled by Fox.

Linear match windows averaged 2.6 million viewers, up 73% from 1.5 million in 2022. Streaming averaged 2 million viewers by average minute audience, up 251% from 578,000 in 2022.

Total consumption reached 39.9 billion minutes across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, a figure NBCUniversal said was 50% higher than the 2018 and 2022 World Cup group stages combined.

Mexico matches delivered the three most-watched soccer telecasts in Spanish-language media history based on total audience delivery. Mexico’s June 18, 2026, match against South Korea averaged 14 million viewers, followed by Mexico-Czechia on June 24, 2026, with 12.3 million and Mexico-South Africa on June 11, 2026, with 10.1 million. The Mexico-South Africa match also ranked as the most-watched World Cup opening match in Spanish-language media history.

Other top group-stage windows included Colombia-Portugal on June 27, 2026, with 9.2 million viewers and Argentina-Algeria on June 16, 2026, with 8.6 million.

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The U.S. Men’s National Team also set Spanish-language media records for Team USA World Cup matches. USA-Turkey on June 25, 2026, averaged 7.4 million viewers, followed by USA-Paraguay on June 12, 2026, with 7 million and USA-Australia on June 19, 2026, with 6.8 million.

NBCUniversal said Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia and Portugal also posted their highest Spanish-language World Cup match audiences during the group stage. Colombia and Portugal reached that mark when they played each other June 27, 2026.

By three-match group-stage average, Mexico led all teams with 12.1 million viewers, followed by Colombia with 7.7 million, Argentina with 7.2 million, the United States with 7.1 million and Brazil with 7 million.

The 2026 group stage included 18 matches with total audience delivery of at least 6 million viewers and 47 matches with at least 4 million viewers. In 2022, one group-stage match reached 6 million viewers and eight reached 4 million.

Streaming accounted for 44% of Telemundo’s total audience delivery during the group stage. Mexico-South Korea on June 18, 2026, became the most-streamed World Cup match in Spanish-language media history, averaging 6.1 million viewers, up 107% from the 2022 Argentina-France final, which averaged 2.96 million streaming viewers.

The next most-streamed matches were Mexico-Czechia on June 24, 2026, with 5.5 million viewers; Mexico-South Africa on June 11, 2026, with 4.4 million; Colombia-Portugal on June 27, 2026, with 4.2 million; and Brazil-Morocco on June 13, 2026, with 3.8 million.

Twelve group-stage matches averaged at least 3 million streaming viewers, compared with none in 2022. Thirty-seven matches topped 2 million streaming viewers across Peacock and Telemundo digital platforms.

On linear, the full Mexico-South Korea program from 8:29 to 11:08 p.m. delivered 7.2 million viewers, making it the highest-rated telecast in Telemundo network history. The telecast peaked at 8.6 million viewers during its highest-rated quarter-hour.

Telemundo said its World Cup group-stage coverage produced the 47 most-watched soccer matches of the year to date on Spanish-language television. The network’s nightly sports program “El Pelotazo” averaged 684,000 viewers during the group stage, up 294% from its May 2026 average.

Telemundo also ranked as the top Spanish-language television network for 17 consecutive days from June 11 to 27, 2026, during total day, measured from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. The network averaged 1.9 million viewers and held a 76% share among Telemundo, Univision and UniMás, up 297% from Telemundo’s May 2026 total-day average.

Peacock said nearly 80% of users who came to the platform for World Cup coverage also watched non-World Cup programming. Viewing was led by Spanish-language series, Peacock originals and Universal films.

The group stage generated 25.4 million social actions, up 221% from the 2018 and 2022 group stages combined. Video views reached 860.6 million across platforms, up 396% from the 2022 World Cup group stage.

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NBCUniversal said World Cup advertising also showed stronger brand metrics compared with 2022, citing the BPI Men’s World Cup Sentiment Tracker. Viewers reported a 13% stronger connection to World Cup advertisers and sponsors, a 48% increase in loyalty toward World Cup advertisers and a 15% stronger perception of credibility for World Cup ads compared with non-World Cup advertising.

Telemundo-owned stations reached 17.4 million viewers on linear during the first 15 days of group-stage coverage, covering the tournament’s first 60 matches. The stations’ average audience increased more than 50% from the same period in 2022 and more than 60% from 2018.

Telemundo-owned stations also captured more than 50% of the World Cup audience in 11 markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston and Phoenix, among total viewers.

Figures were based on Nielsen Big Data + Panel, Live+Same Day match-window measurement for total audience delivery; Adobe Analytics; Nielsen Live+Same Day; and additional NBCUniversal research for June 11 to 27, 2026.