Is the NFL starting to worry about soccer’s success on TV?

The 2026 World Cup continues to captivate sports fans in the United States.

With spectacular matches, nail-biting action right down to penalty shootouts, and standout performances, the tournament is generating unprecedented interest among the American public—so much so that many observers are beginning to wonder about its impact in the face of the NFL's dominance.

The latest viewership data shows a remarkable rise in soccer's popularity. The United States' victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina drew approximately 33.5 million viewers across English- and Spanish-language broadcasts—a historic high for a World Cup match aired in the United States.

Although this figure remains lower than the viewership generated by the Super Bowl, it confirms that soccer now occupies a much more prominent place in the American sports landscape than it has in recent decades.

American football still holds a considerable lead. The 2025 Super Bowl, featuring the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs, drew nearly 128 million viewers across all broadcast platforms. That championship game remains the most-watched sporting event in the United States.

However, several analysts point out that comparing a World Cup group stage match to the NFL's championship game does not provide a perfectly fair picture.

Soccer Continues to Gain Ground in the NFL's Backyard

The growing interest in soccer is nonetheless a trend that's hard to ignore. While the NFL is ramping up initiatives to boost its popularity internationally—particularly in Europe and elsewhere around the world—soccer continues to grow steadily in the United States.

The 2026 World Cup final could, in fact, attract an even larger audience. Some projections already suggest more than 50 million viewers for the English-language broadcast, not counting Spanish-language networks.

With several matches being played in stadiums owned by NFL teams, this World Cup also highlights the growing convergence between the two sports worlds. While American football remains the undisputed king in the United States, soccer now appears firmly established among the sports experiencing the strongest growth in popularity with American audiences.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.