The FIFA World Cup 2026™ has made a spectacular start on and off the pitch, with the tournament's opening matches delivering record-breaking television audiences across the globe and reaffirming football's unique ability to unite millions of fans. From historic viewing figures and unprecedented market shares to the year's biggest television broadcasts in several countries, the opening week has already established new benchmarks for audience engagement, highlighting the unrivalled global appeal of the FIFA World Cup™.

Across Asia, audiences have embraced the tournament in remarkable numbers. In Japan, Nippon TV's coverage of the Samurai Blue's victory over Tunisia attracted an average audience of 22.4 million viewers – the highest audience for any match so far at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The broadcast peaked at 27.6 million viewers and reached 39 million people. In neighbouring China PR, the tournament has already reached 192 million unique viewers across CCTV channels after just 11 matches, with Tunisia v Japan delivering the biggest audience so far, reaching 24 million viewers on CCTV5. Australia's opening match against Türkiye became the nation's most-watched men's FIFA World Cup match ever, attracting an average audience of 3.04 million viewers and reaching 4.8 million people overall. Sweden's opening match against Tunisia generated an extraordinary 96% television market share, while neighbouring Norway recorded an even higher 97% as the country's first FIFA World Cup appearance in 28 years captivated almost the entire television audience. An average audience of 1.3 million also made it Norway's second most-watched FIFA World Cup match of the 21st century.

Austria's opening match against Jordan became the country's most-watched programme between 06:00 and 08:00 since electronic television audience measurement began. In England, ITV's coverage of the opening match against Croatia attracted an average audience of more than 14 million viewers, peaked at 15.4 million – the highest television audience peak in the United Kingdom this year – and reached more than 20 million people overall. Portugal's opening match against DR Congo reached almost five million viewers, representing nearly half the country's population, while a combined average audience of 3.3 million made it the most-watched programme of 2026. Panama also recorded its highest-ever audience for a FIFA World Cup match, with an average audience of 1.1 million and almost three-quarters (74.4%) of television viewers tuning in. Across the Americas, Mexico's opening match against South Africa delivered the country's highest FIFA World Cup audience of the 21st century, attracting an average audience of 23.4 million viewers across linear channels. Their second match – against Korea Republic – broke the record again, recording 25.5 million views. Canada's first-ever FIFA World Cup victory generated a record average audience of 5.3 million viewers, making it the country's most-watched FIFA World Cup group-stage match ever and the largest audience for any Canadian men's national team match.

Brazil has once again demonstrated the nation's enduring passion for the Seleção. Coverage of the group-stage encounter against Haiti attracted a combined average audience of 30.7 million viewers across TV Globo and SporTV, surpassing the tournament opener against Morocco to become the country's highest-rated television broadcast of the year. Across the Globo ecosystem, the match reached 51.3 million viewers, while CazéTV also set a new worldwide YouTube record for the most-watched football match ever streamed on the platform. With the FIFA World Cup 2026 only just beginning, the tournament is already setting new standards for global audience engagement. The remarkable figures recorded during the opening phase underline once again why the FIFA World Cup™ remains the world's biggest sporting event. The tournament has also generated exceptional momentum across the three host nations. In the United States, and following revised figures published Telemundo, the opening match between the United States and Paraguay was confirmed as FOX’s highest-ever English-language audience for a FIFA men’s World Cup match; with Telemundo delivering the biggest Spanish-language audience in history for a US men’s national team (USMNT) FIFA World Cup match.

The momentum has extended well beyond the host nation's own matches. During the opening week, both FOX and Telemundo established new benchmarks for FIFA World Cup™ coverage, with broadcasts becoming the most-watched non-USMNT group-stage match in English-language television history and the most-watched FIFA World Cup™ match ever on Spanish-language television in the United States. Please note: The abovementioned figures are based on overnight audience data; consolidated figures will be published post tournament.