Tag: sports-breaking

Updated on June 22: Telemundo had to restate its viewership figures because of what it called “Nielsen’s revised data.” As a result, the network’s audience measurement fell to 7 million viewers.

On the same day, a Fox spokesperson confirmed to The Inquirer that the network’s viewership figures are for broadcast windows longer than just the game itself. As such, the spokesperson said the “match window” number, to use the industry term, was 19.9 million viewers.

That means the combined number in the record book is now 26,900,000 viewers. That total ranks No. 3 all-time among soccer broadcasts in the United States, behind the 2014 men’s World Cup final and the 2015 women’s World Cup final.

Our original story follows below.

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The final viewership numbers from the U.S.-Paraguay game landed on Tuesday, and they revealed a new record for the most-watched soccer game in American broadcast history.

Fox reported an audience of 18.037 million in English and Telemundo reported 9.5 million in Spanish, with both networks counting their TV and online audiences. The combined total of 27,537,000 broke a mark that had stood since the 2014 World Cup final, which drew a reported 27,314,274 viewers across ABC, Univision, and their respective streaming platforms.

Philadelphia was Fox’s No. 9 ratings market for U.S.-Paraguay, a network spokesperson told The Inquirer.

The combined audience was bigger than that of the decisive Game 5 of the NBA Finals on ABC, 24.5 million viewers according to ESPN. The series averaged 20.6 million viewers per game.

The peak audience of Game 5 was 33 million viewers. Fox’s peak for U.S.-Paraguay was 21.526 million and Telemundo’s was 7.1 million, for a combined 28.626 million.

U.S.-Paraguay isn’t the only game that has drawn a big audience. The Mexico-South Africa tournament opener last Thursday had a combined 20.586 million viewers, with Fox drawing 7.186 million across all platforms and Telemundo drawing 13.4 million. The latter number is the biggest ever audience for any soccer game on a Spanish-language network.

Mexico-South Africa was the most-watched World Cup group stage game not involving the U.S. — for all of two days. Saturday’s Brazil-Morocco game in the Meadowlands beat it, drawing a combined audience of 21.219 million: 10.019 million on Fox and 11.2 million on Telemundo.

Those two contests now stand as Nos. 10 and 11 in the all-time rankings. Sunday’s Netherlands-Japan game also makes the top 20, with 17.238 million reported viewers: 8.838 million on Fox and 8.4 million on Telemundo.

Of the 12 games with publicly reported data so far, nine have reached combined audiences over 10 million viewers. One of them is Philadelphia’s first World Cup game, Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador on Sunday, which drew 13.473 million viewers across FS1 (4.273 million), Telemundo (9.2 million), and their online streams.

Based on publicly-available data, the record men’s World Cup audience on an English-language network remains the 2014 U.S.-Portugal game, which drew 18.71 million viewers on ESPN. The overall soccer record in English is the 2015 women’s World Cup final, where Fox’s primetime broadcast of the U.S. triumph drew 25.632 million viewers.

For over a decade, The Inquirer has compiled a database of the most-watched soccer broadcasts in U.S. history. Click here to see the full list.

SEATTLE — There was no surprise news about Christian Pulisic from U.S. men’s soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino in his news conference before Friday’s game against Australia (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). Pochettino did not rule the star playmaker in or out, and that was not surprising.

“As you know, he was training in an individual way the whole week,” Pochettino said. “But like always, I think tonight, the day before the game, we have a meeting with our medical area, and we will assess the whole group, the players, and tomorrow we will communicate all the things that we can agree tonight.”

Pulisic was seen briefly at the start of Thursday’s practice, then headed off to work on his own. When he arrived, he wasn’t wearing the sleeve over his injured left calf that he sported on Wednesday. But after a few minutes, he sat down on a bench by the sideline and put it on.

“He is evolving, he is much better from [last] Friday,” Pochettino said. “I think at the moment we’ll see. … He’s doing a massive effort trying to be ready.”

The manager also praised Pulisic for being “strong and with a great mentality” as the Hershey native works to be ready for kickoff.

Asked who might play if Pulisic can’t go, Pochettino didn’t answer. This was no surprise either.

“I will tell tomorrow if that is the situation,” he said. “At the moment, we are evaluating all the possibilities just in case, and then we will decide when we have the confirmation in one or another direction tonight.”

What is no secret is that when these teams met in a friendly in suburban Denver in October, it was far from friendly on the field. Australia played a physical game, with a focus on Pulisic that forced him off the field injured in the 31st minute.

All of the U.S. players are ready for round two, and so is the manager.

“I think we need to play on the edge of the line, not crossing the lines of the rules,” Pochettino said. “I think we are going to try, all, to be very close to this thin line. That allows us to take some advantage [with] the rules.”

Later in the day, Australia manager Tony Popovic was asked if he expects this game to be similar to the last. He didn’t answer directly.

“Since then we feel we’ve improved,” he said. “We’re a better team now than what we were in October and I’m sure the U.S. is as well.”

Popovic also was asked if he expects Pulisic to play.

“I’m sure he’ll play if he’s fit — he’s one of their best players, an outstanding footballer,” Popovic said. “We expect Christian to definitely play if he’s available, and if he’s not, we’ve looked at some of the players that have played when he hasn’t been there.”

A soft spot for Argentina and Messi

Pochettino grew up in Argentina, played 20 times for his country (including at the 2002 World Cup), and like many Argentines is fiercely proud of his roots. So of course he was thrilled to see the Albiceleste start its World Cup campaign by routing Algeria, 3-0, with a hat trick from Lionel Messi — whom Pochettino coached at Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021-22 season.

“I am Argentino, and I really enjoyed the performance,” Pochettino said, quickly adding “but I’m going to give my life for the USA.”

He didn’t have to worry about offending anyone this time.

“I think it’s difficult to describe Messi,” Pochettino said. “Six World Cups, all that he achieved in his career in different clubs [in] collective and individual ways — woof. Is he the best? For sure, yes.”

(Not that he was ever going to answer with Brazil’s Pelé, Argentina’s foil for decades; or Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi’s modern foil.)

“Argentina is an amazing team,” Pochettino said of the reigning champions, noting his friendship with their manager Lionel Scaloni and some of his staff. “Lionel is, for me, the best coach today in this World Cup. … The fans — amazing.”

He paused there to make a gesture showing the importance of Argentina’s legendary fan base, that has filled stadiums to the brim for decades. Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium was the latest to see the show, as a full house roared into the night.

“And then the cherry [on top]? Messi,” Pochettino concluded.

Big man on campus

This isn’t Pochettino’s first trip to Seattle. In 2014, his first game with England’s Tottenham Hotspur was a friendly against the Sounders at the same stadium he’ll work Friday.

“I saw the ambience and the atmosphere and the people, and I hear that they are very passionate people here,” he said. “I’m looking forward [to] tomorrow, to share all together a great night, I hope with a good result and good performance.”

The vibrant scene in Seattle as Fox’s studio show goes on air:

#USMNT

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— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM

At one point during Thursday’s practice, Pochettino walked to the end of the field, then up a hill behind the net, took out his phone, and recorded a little video. What was that about?

He joked in the news conference that it was “to see how everything looks without me,” mocking Argentines’ reputations for big egos. He also joked that he was watching for spies, though that line fell a little flat in a sport where spying actually happens.

As it turned out, he was just taking a video for himself, with a view in front of him of Lake Washington and the facilities on a classically big-time American college campus. Though the U.S. team was only there for a short time, Pochettino appreciated the setting.

“It was amazing, beautiful facilities,” he said. “We know that they were working for months, only for us to spend maybe an hour and a half, two hours. … Thank you to the people that made it possible to have, in perfect condition, the field and all the facilities.”