Well over half of Australia have tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup on SBS

08/07/2026

Well over half of Australia have tuned in to watch the FIFA World Cup on SBS

7 July, 2026

Media releases

Australia's Round of 32 match against Egypt achieved a Total TV reach of almost 4 million in the pre-dawn hours

Almost 3 million tuned in to the Round of 16 match between Mexico and England on Monday

Most Australians have watched the tournament as cumulative reach hits 16.2 million

More than 16 million Australians have tuned into SBS's FIFA World Cup 2026 broadcast over the first three weeks of the tournament, driven by record audiences for the Australian matches and consistently high ratings for other feature matches.

Despite the Socceroos' departure, there is still huge enthusiasm for the tournament as 2.88 million* (VOZ Total TV reach) watched England defeat host nation Mexico 3-2 on Monday (6 July) to progress to the quarter-finals. This was the biggest audience for a match not involving Australia, and one of eight matches so far that has reached more than two million viewers.

Almost 4 million fans rose early or pulled an all-nighter to watch the Socceroos play Egypt in a pre-dawn knockout match in Australia on Saturday, giving SBS a Total TV average audience of 2.2 million, as 46% tuned in through SBS On Demand (see detailed breakdown below).

Cumulative Total TV reach for the tournament is now at 16.2 million, which means more than 58% of Australia's population have watched some of the tournament, with two weeks still to go to the final match. The quarter-finals start Friday, 10 July (Australian time).

SBS Director of Sport, Ken Shipp, said: One of the things that has always made the FIFA World Cup so special is the way it brings people together. Australians embraced the Socceroos' campaign, but they have also continued to follow the tournament because the FIFA World Cup has a unique ability to bring Australians together through football, regardless of the team they are supporting. It's also a chance to celebrate the many cultures and communities that make Australia such a diverse nation.

SBS has been proud to share that experience with Australians for the past 40 years. The knockout rounds have already produced some remarkable football, and with the quarter-finals about to begin, the tournament is building towards a thrilling finish.

Last week, the Socceroos' final Group match, against Paraguay, became the most-watched World Cup match in SBS history (4.84 million, Total TV reach), closely followed by the 4.75 million who tuned in to watch their opening game against T rkiye on 14 June.

SBS's World Cup broadcast dominated Saturday's free-to-air ratings, as the Australia-

Egypt post-match program attracted 2.47 million viewers, and the pre-match program attracted more than one million viewers.

Australia v Egypt Total TV Reach Total TV Average Audience % BVOD Contribution

Australia v Egypt - Pre 1,007,000 245,000 37.2%

Australia v Egypt - Live 3,868,000 2,201,000 46.4%

Australia v Egypt - Post 2,475,000 991,000 44.0%

Note: Updated data for this match became available today (7 July). Preliminary data available on 5 July did not capture all viewers, due to the extended match time.

World Cup matches have consistently ranked in the top ten programs of the day since the tournament began on 12 June (Australian time). So far, 46 live matches have reached more than one million viewers each.

The World Cup broadcast has struck a particular chord with younger viewers, ranking No.1 on the VOZ daily ratings for 23 of the last 25 days in the 16-39 age group. Yesterday (6 July), SBS had the top six shows for this age group.

Top Matches to 6 July Total TV Reach Total TV Average Audience % BVOD Contribution

Paraguay v Australia - Live 4,844,000 3,086,000 46.8%

Australia v T rkiye - Live 4,750,000 3,045,000 44.0%

Australia v Egypt Live 3,868,000 2,201,000 46.4%

USA v Australia Live 3,456,000 2,199,000 45.9%

Mexico v England Live 2,882,000 1,659,000 63.4%

Argentina v Cape Verde Live 2,644,000 1,110,000 58.6%

Portugal v Croatia Live 2,125,000 1,093,000 65.6%

Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026 live, free and exclusively on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand from 12 June to 20 July (AEST). Learn all the ways to watch, read and listen, including updating your SBS On Demand app (iOS or Android) and subscribing to SBS Sport newsletters here.

SBS Sport's social media platforms have had more than 979 million video views and 1.1 billion impressions across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube.^ The SBS Sport TikTok platform has grown more than ten-fold during the World Cup and now has 2.7 million followers.

Follow SBS Sport across YouTube, TikTok, X, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest from the FIFA World Cup 2026 .

Broadcast schedule and more information here.

Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Commonwealth Bank and Youi are commercial partners of SBS's broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2026 .

Sources:

* Reach-To Date: VOZ National Total TV | Date: 11/06/2026 6/07/2026 | Data: When Watched, All WC content | Demo: Total People | Metric: Reach (Broadcast 1 min, BVOD 15 secs)

Average Audience: VOZ National Total TV | Overnight 12/06/2026 6/07/2026| Demo: Total People | Metric: Average Audience

^ Tableau, 1/4/2026 to 6/7/2026

For PDF of this release, click here.

LINK:	https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/2026/07/08/well-over-half-of-australia-...
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