USMNT’s World Cup opener vs Paraguay shatters viewership record

The United States men’s national team put a beatdown on Paraguay in its first World Cup match on home soil since 1994, drawing a reported crowd of 70,492 at Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium). It was a clinic, a spectacle, and perhaps the most encouraging performance many American soccer fans have seen in their lifetimes. The numbers on the scoreboard were impressive, and as it turns out, so were the viewership figures FOX Sports just released.

Team USA fans were out in full force to see the US Men’s National Team play World Cup soccer on US soil for the first time in 32 years. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP))

On Saturday, FOX Sports announced that the 4-1 win over Paraguay was the “Most-watched USMNT FIFA Men’s World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. history” with an astounding 15.986 million viewers. The team showed out and Americans followed suit. 

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To put this in perspective, the 2022 USMNT group-stage opener against Wales averaged about 11.7 million viewers in the U.S. That’s a whopping 106% increase in viewership. The peak viewership during Friday’s rout was 18.86 million. We should have expected an uptick in viewership with the excitement of playing on home soil and one of the best men’s teams constructed on paper, but this was historic.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs reportedly averaged just over 16 million viewers. That means the USMNT wasn’t far behind the biggest sporting event in America at the moment — an impressive feat for a soccer match, even one played on home soil during a World Cup. 

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Folarin Balogun scored two goals in his first World Cup game for the US. (Getty Images)

If the team puts together another impressive performance against Australia on Friday, expect plenty of Americans who don’t normally follow soccer all that closely to jump on the bandwagon and start feeling the patriotism flowing through their veins.

This is also an incredible opportunity to grow soccer in the United States, help Major League Soccer attract new fans, and turn some of these players into household names. The NHL capitalized on the momentum created by the 4 Nations Face-Off and international competition. MLS would be wise to do the same.

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USMNT play Australia at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, June 19 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.