Telemundo says 2026 World Cup sets Spanish-language audience records

Telemundo’s coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup averaged 6.3 million viewers across 104 matches, making it the most-watched World Cup in Spanish-language media history, according to figures released by the network.

The total audience delivery figure, which combines linear and digital viewing, increased 143% from the 2.6 million average for the 2022 tournament. Telemundo said each stage of the competition established a Spanish-language World Cup audience record.

Spain’s victory over defending champion Argentina in the final July 19, 2026, drew a total audience of 23.9 million viewers. It became the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history.

Linear match windows averaged 3.2 million viewers, up 79% from 1.8 million in 2022. Streaming coverage on Peacock and Telemundo platforms averaged 3 million viewers per minute, a 297% increase from 767,000 for the previous tournament.

Streaming accounted for 48% of Telemundo’s total World Cup audience, compared with 30% in 2022.

The network produced more than 700 hours of original programming during the 39-day tournament. Its coverage included more than 80 on-air personalities representing each Latin American country that participated in the event.

Most-watched matches

The 2026 tournament delivered the 15 most-watched soccer matches in Spanish-language media history, Telemundo said. The top 10 were:

• Spain vs. Argentina, July 19, 2026: 23.9 million
• Mexico vs. England, July 5, 2026: 23.2 million
• Mexico vs. Ecuador, June 30, 2026: 18.9 million
• Mexico vs. Korea Republic, June 18, 2026: 14 million
• Brazil vs. Norway, July 5, 2026: 13.8 million
• Norway vs. England, July 11, 2026: 13 million
• United States vs. Belgium, July 6, 2026: 12.9 million
• Mexico vs. Czechia, June 24, 2026: 12.3 million
• Argentina vs. Switzerland, July 11, 2026: 11.8 million
• England vs. Argentina, July 15, 2026: 11.4 million

The Mexico-England match was also the second most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history. Its linear telecast averaged 10.1 million viewers from 8:25 to 11:20 p.m. ET, making it the highest-rated Spanish-language television telecast on record. Viewership peaked at 11.7 million at 10:45 p.m. ET.

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France’s third-place match against England averaged 7.7 million viewers, up 225% from the 2.4 million who watched Croatia and Morocco play for third place in 2022.

Forty-two matches averaged at least 6 million viewers. Two matches reached that level during the entire 2022 tournament.

Viewers consumed 77.2 billion minutes of coverage across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock and Telemundo’s streaming platforms. That was 79% more than the combined 43.2 billion minutes watched during the Spanish-language coverage of the 2018 and 2022 men’s World Cups.

Streaming records

The five most-streamed match windows, based on average minute audience, were:

• Spain vs. Argentina, July 19, 2026: 13.9 million
• Mexico vs. England, July 5, 2026: 13 million
• Mexico vs. Ecuador, June 30, 2026: 9.7 million
• Brazil vs. Norway, July 5, 2026: 7.5 million
• Norway vs. England, July 11, 2026: 7.2 million

The final’s 13.9 million streaming audience was 370% larger than the 3 million average for the 2022 final between Argentina and France.

Twenty-one matches averaged at least 4 million streaming viewers. No match reached that level in 2022.

Telemundo network performance

Telemundo ranked first among Spanish-language television networks during total day across all 34 matchdays from June 11 to July 19, 2026. The network averaged 1.9 million viewers and captured a 76% share among the three Spanish-language broadcast networks.

That audience was four times Telemundo’s May 2026 total-day average.

Telemundo averaged 1.4 million total-day viewers in June 2026, making it the network’s most-watched month. The figure surpassed its previous World Cup-era highs of 954,000 viewers in June 2018 and 837,000 in December 2022.

Coverage of the Mexico-England and Brazil-Norway matches helped Telemundo average 3.6 million total-day viewers July 5, 2026, setting a Spanish-language television record.

Peacock and social media

Peacock attracted four times its typical share of Hispanic viewers during the tournament. NBCUniversal said World Cup viewers also watched Telemundo entertainment, Peacock originals, MLB coverage and library programming including “Yellowstone” and “The Office.”

Forty percent of Peacock viewers who watched “Love Island USA” also watched the World Cup. One-third of Peacock’s World Cup viewers were members of Generation Z.

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The tournament generated 2.25 billion social video views, more than nine times the combined total from Telemundo’s coverage of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. It also generated 75.1 million social actions, nearly three times the combined total from those tournaments.

The 26th matchday produced a tournament-high 5.28 million social actions. The following day generated a record 135.6 million social video views.

The audience figures were based on Nielsen Big Data Plus Panel live-plus-same-day measurements, Adobe Analytics and match-window data collected from June 11 through July 19, 2026.