Spain secured their second FIFA World Cup title by defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time during the final held on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, USA [1, 2, 3, 4]. The match remained scoreless until the 106th minute when Ferran Torres scored the winning goal [5, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 4].
The 2026 tournament was co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico—the first time three nations hosted—with 48 teams competing across 104 matches [3, 4]. Nearly 7 million fans attended matches in stadiums throughout the event, despite some controversy over ticket prices and refereeing decisions [3].
Television and streaming viewership hit new records in the United States. Approximately 63 million Americans watched the final across English and Spanish-language broadcasts, a new high for World Cup finals in the US [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 4, 9]. Fox’s English-language feed attracted about 38.9 million viewers, while Telemundo and Peacock’s Spanish-language broadcasts combined for 23.9 million viewers [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 4, 10, 9]. Nielsen data indicated the final peaked at roughly 51.7 million simultaneous US viewers during the last 15 minutes of the match, far surpassing previous tournament peaks [11].
The total US viewership for the final, combining all platforms, was reported as between 62.8 million and 65 million viewers according to various sources [10, 11, 9]. Fox’s Fox One streaming service also had its strongest month with 2.8 million new subscribers in June 2026 ahead of the World Cup [1, 2, 10, 9]. Fox and Comcast paid about $485 million and $600 million respectively for TV rights packages including the tournament [1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 4, 9].
The event also broke records for sports betting in the US. Neil Walsh, Hard Rock Bet’s senior VP of sportsbook, called it "the biggest betting event in American history," with betting volume equaling roughly 10 Super Bowls combined [12]. DraftKings reported over 2 million bets placed on the final [12].
In the United Kingdom, the final drew a peak audience of 15.8 million across BBC One and iPlayer, with 11.1 million streams on BBC digital platforms [5]. Over the whole tournament, the BBC reached 42.8 million viewers and more than 237 million streams on its platforms [5]. Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, said, "This has been a World Cup we'll never forget, and that's entirely down to the millions of people who chose to experience it with the BBC" [5].
The tournament featured likely final World Cup appearances by stars such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo [1, 2, 6, 7, 4, 9]. Matches involving the US team also set records, including 37.2 million viewers for their Round of 16 win over Belgium on Fox [10, 11].
The next major FIFA event scheduled is not detailed, but with the 2026 final concluded, broadcasters and betting operators are reporting record engagement and subscriptions following the tournament’s conclusion in late July [1, 2, 10, 9].
