• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

The FIFA World Cup finals match in which Spain beat Argentina 2-0 scored a record 66.4 million average viewers across all networks/streamers airing the event, according to Nielsen.

For the North American-based event, Fox Television Network and its platforms averaged 42.5 million viewers for the English-language edition, while Telemundo/Peacock came in at 23.9 million viewers for the Spanish-language version.

It was the highest-rated TV event since Super Bowl LX, which had 125.6 million viewers, in February, and higher than the two NFL Conference finals games in January -- 48.6 million (AFC, New England-Denver) and 46.1 million (NFC, Los Angeles-Seattle).

Looking at the entire month-long event, Fox averaged 7.74 million viewers -- up 116% from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Telemundo/Peacock came in at 6.3 million viewers -- 143% higher in comparison to the 2022 event in Qatar.

Guideline estimates total World Cup advertising -- TV and streaming -- was $1.2 billion, up 170% versus the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The total for TV was estimated at $1.03 billion, with streaming at $166.2 million.

For Fox Television Network and its platforms -- including matches, pre-game and post-game programming -- ad spend was estimated at $590.2 million (12,422 airings), according to iSpot.

For its “Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026,” Telemundo took in $403.6 million, with 7,068 airings.

The top-spending brands included Google, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Nike, American Express, AT&T, Adidas, YouTube TV and Walmart.

This story has been updated.