The instant-classic World Cup final that saw Argentina defeat France on penalty kicks set viewership records in the United States.

Nielsen revealed that an estimated 16.78 million viewers in the U.S. tuned into Fox Sunday morning between television and streaming services. That number surpassed the previous record for English-language U.S. viewership of a men’s World Cup match, set in 1994 when Brazil beat Italy in the final and drew 14.51 million viewers.

Telemundo’s Spanish-language telecast had another 9 million viewers between TV and Peacock, bringing the total American viewership of the 2022 final to 25.78 million.

That was the largest TV audience for any men’s soccer game in U.S. history. It was the second largest all-time, trailing only the 2015 Women’s World Cup final, when the U.S. defeated Japan and 26.7 million Americans tuned in.

The men’s showdown Sunday that pitted stars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe brought in a massive 47 percent increase in U.S. English-language viewership from the 2018 final, when Mbappe’s French team defeated Croatia.

Fox Sports said it was its third-most-streamed event in its history, following Super Bowl LI in 2017 and Super Bowl LIV in 2020.

The four-week World Cup tournament averaged about 3.59 million viewers per match for Fox across 64 matches, all broadcast on either Fox or FS1.

–Field Level Media