US-Belgium at World Cup is most-watched soccer telecast in US history at 30M viewers, Fox says

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Belgium fans react after the team scored during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium, at a watch party at the Rockefeller Center fan village, Monday, July 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Fans react to the first goal by the United States at a watch party on the National Mall in Washington for a World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) — Belgium fans react after the team scored during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium, at a watch party at the Rockefeller Center fan village, Monday, July 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

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1:52 PM on Tuesday, July 7

By The Associated Press

The U.S. game against Belgium in the round of 16 at the World Cup set another record as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history, Fox said after preliminary ratings came out Tuesday.

Fox said 30 million people watched the game, a 4-1 victory for Belgium on Monday in Seattle to move into the quarterfinals and eliminate the last of the tournament’s three co-hosts. Fox said audience peaked at more than 36.8 million people between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

That topped the previous mark, the U.S.-Bosnia-Herzegovina game last week that Fox said was watched by 26.4 million.

Fox on Tuesday also reported the 11.1 million viewers who tuned in to the Portugal-Croatia match in the round of 32 were the most in English language history in the United States for any World Cup game without the U.S. team, excluding the final. Fox said viewership peaked at more than 16 million for a wild finish.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here