US loss to Belgium sets another domestic TV ratings record

The United States men's national team's loss to Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 on Monday was a disappointment for fans, but ⁠it rewrote domestic viewership records ⁠once again.

The game drew 30 million viewers on Fox, according to Nielsen preliminary data released Tuesday. That far ⁠outpaced the Americans' round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina last Wednesday, which at 24.429 million was the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in the U.S. for all of five days.

The peak audience for Belgium's 4-1 win over the U.S. was 36.895 million viewers in the 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET ⁠window.

The ⁠30 million number beat out some high-profile sporting events in the U.S. in the past 12 months, including the New York Knicks' title-clinching Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs (24.5 million) and Game 7 of the 2025 World Series in ⁠which the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays (26 million). The CFP national title game between Indiana and Miami only barely beat out U.S.-Belgium at 30.1 million.

And taken together with an audience of 12 million on Spanish-language Telemundo, ⁠the ‌game ‌averaged a whopping 42 million ⁠viewers.

It was the last ‌U.S. match fans will get to see in the tournament they ⁠are co- hosting. Malik Tillman scored ⁠on a free kick, but Charles ⁠De Ketelaere had a first-half brace for Belgium and they added on two more after halftime.