World Cup closing ceremony viewership figures eclipse the Super Bowl

Josh BarkerThu, July 23, 2026 at 9:30 AM UTC·1 min read

With the 2026 World Cup now officially over, the focus on soccer in America has switched back to other sports.

Soccer has never been the biggest sport in the United States, with the NFL and NBA instead being the more popular choices among fans.

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However, ‘football’, as it is known to most around the world, is still incredibly popular with many, as has become evident from the World Cup closing ceremony viewership figures.

World Cup closing ceremony viewership was double the Super Bowl

Winna F.C. have now shared the viewership figures from Sunday’s event compared to the Super Bowl.

In America, the NFL showpiece is one of the biggest events in the calendar, and attracted around 600 million viewers this year.

However, it is being reported that the 2026 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony ended up capturing around double that total (1.2 billion), as Winna F.C. explained on X:

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“CRAZY STAT: The World Cup closing ceremony attracted twice as many viewers as the Super Bowl final.”

But while soccer still isn’t the go-to sport for many Americans, the 2026 World Cup did help increase the size of the fanbase.

This became evident when it was revealed that the tournament final between Spain and Argentina broke a 32-year-old Fox and Telemundo record.

The event averaged 66.4 million viewers in the U.S. on FOX and Telemundo combined, which, other than Super Bowls, is the network’s largest sports audience since the 1994 Winter Olympics.

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