• by Wayne Friedman , 4 hours ago

The U.S. men's soccer team's first knockout-stage victory for the FIFA World Cup also forged a record.

With 24.4 million viewers, the Fox Television Network telecast was the most-watched English-language airing for a soccer match, according to preliminary Nielsen data.

The U.S. beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0, moving the team to the round of 16.

The data includes pre-match and match coverage. Final viewership will show a slight increase, according to industry estimates.

This tops a match with 22.3 million viewers for the 2015 women’s FIFA World Cup final, which also aired on Fox.

The U.S. vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina game also aired on Spanish-language network Telemundo and streamer Peacock (in Spanish), adding 9.1 million viewers.

The combined total 35.3 million viewers tops the combined (Spanish- and English-language airings) total of 26.7 million for the 2015 women’s final.

Through four matches the U.S. has played in so far, Fox has averaged 18.9 million viewers -- with the top four matches on Fox.

Previous matches include the U.S. vs. Paraguay (18 million, June 12), the U.S. vs. Turkiye (17 million, June 25), and the U.S.-Australia (16.2 million, June 19).

Through the "Group Stage" matches, the World Cup is up 105% in combined English- and Spanish language airings, averaging 9.7 million versus 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Both Fox (Fox, FS1, and Tubi) and Telemundo (plus Peacock, Universo) have seen sharp gains in audiences with Fox at 5.05 million (vs. 2.7 million) and Telemundo at 4.60 million (vs. 2.07 million).