2026 World Cup: "Broadcast records across multiple markets" for the tournament’s launch (FIFA)

The 2026 World Cup has set "new broadcast records across multiple markets" at the start of the tournament, FIFA announced on 23 June 2026.

Among the figures released by FIFA:
• 192 million unique viewers watched the first 11 matches on the CCTV public broadcaster’s channels in China;
• an average of 3.04 million viewers have watched the Australia - Turkey match (2-0, on Matchday 1 of Group D) on SBS Group channels in Australia, making it "the nation's most-watched men's FIFA World Cup match ever";
• Sweden’s opening match (a 5-1 win over Tunisia) and Norway’s (a 4-1 win over Iraq) have recorded domestic audience shares of 96 % and 97 % respectively.

The Brazil - Haiti (3-0, on Matchday 2 of Group C) drew a combined average audience of 30.7 million viewers across the Globo and SporTV networks, making it "the country's highest-rated television broadcast of the year," according to FIFA. "Across the Globo ecosystem, the match reached 51.3 million viewers, while CazéTV also set a new worldwide YouTube record for the most-watched football match ever streamed on the platform," the governing…