Ratings Roundup: Argentina-England Semifinal Breaks Records for FOX; MLB All-Star Game Is Most Watched Since 2018

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Argentina's Semifinal knockout of England drives 15.063 million viewers on FOX, the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Semifinals telecast in English-language U.S. history; FOX Sports' four-match Quarterfinal slate averages 15.644 million viewers, headlined by Norway-England at 21.796 million; Telemundo and Peacock's Quarterfinals become the most-watched Quarterfinal stage in Spanish-language World Cup history at 10.4 million total audience delivery; the MLB All-Star Game on FOX and FOX Deportes averages 8.794 million viewers for the most-watched since 2018; NBC and Peacock deliver the most-watched WNBA game of the 2026 season with Fever-Aces on Sunday Night Basketball; ESPN closes its second most-viewed Wimbledon ever; and ESPN networks post their strongest first-half viewership performance since 2012.

Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts (July 6-July 12)FIFA World Cup 2026 dominated Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of July 6-July 12, claiming the top 16 spots. FOX's coverage of the USMNT Round of 16 win over Belgium on Monday, July 6, was the No. 1 most-watched live sports event of the week at 33 million viewers, with Telemundo's Spanish-language coverage of the same match at No. 11. FOX also filled Nos. 2-8 with Norway-England, Argentina-Switzerland, France-Morocco, Spain-Portugal, Spain-Belgium, Switzerland-Colombia, and Argentina-Egypt, followed by Telemundo's coverage of Argentina-Switzerland (No. 9), Norway-England (No. 10), Switzerland-Colombia (No. 12), France-Morocco (No. 13), Spain-Portugal (No. 14), Spain-Belgium (No. 15), and Argentina-Egypt (No. 16).

NBC's WNBA Sunday Night Basketball telecast of Fever-Aces claimed No. 17. ESPN's Wimbledon coverage took three spots: the Gentlemen's Championship at No. 18, the Ladies' Championship at No. 20, and the Gentlemen's Semifinals at No. 25. CBS's coverage of the PGA Tour's Genesis Scottish Open placed the final round at No. 19 and the third round at No. 21. NBC's coverage of the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament placed No. 22, TNT and truTV's NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta was No. 23, and ABC's WNBA telecast of Liberty-Lynx rounded out the list at No. 24.

FOX Sports FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage: Semifinals and Quarterfinals Set English-Language U.S. RecordsWednesday afternoon's Argentina-England Semifinal on FOX averaged 15,063,000 viewers as Lionel Messi and Argentina knocked out England to advance to the Final - the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Semifinals telecast in English-language U.S. history, up 131% vs. the 2022 FIFA World Cup Semifinals telecast average on FOX (6.531 million), per preliminary Nielsen Fast Nationals. The match peaked at 22,177,000 viewers from 4:45-5:00 p.m. ET and was the most-watched Wednesday afternoon telecast in FOX history. Tuesday afternoon's Spain-France Semifinal on FOX averaged 11,462,000 viewers (peak 15,560,000 from 4:45-5:00 p.m. ET) as Spain defeated France to advance to Sunday's Final against Argentina.

The four-match Quarterfinal slate on FOX averaged 15.644 million viewers - the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Quarterfinals in English-language U.S. history and up 150% from the 2022 Quarterfinal telecast average on FOX (6.247 million), per Nielsen Media Research. Saturday's Norway-England Quarterfinal averaged 21.796 million viewers on FOX, the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup non-USMNT telecast in English-language U.S. history, peaking at 28.133 million from 7:30-7:45 p.m. ET. Saturday's Argentina-Switzerland Quarterfinal on FOX averaged 18.152 million viewers, the second most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Quarterfinals telecast in English-language U.S. history. Thursday's France-Morocco Quarterfinal on FOX averaged 10.252 million viewers, peaking at 13.589 million from 5:15-5:30 p.m. ET, as Kylian Mbapp led France's win; top local markets were Boston (6.31/25), San Francisco (5.51/32), Kansas City (5.34/26), Washington, D.C. (5.23/24), and Richmond (5.11/19). Friday's Spain-Belgium Quarterfinal on FOX averaged 9.866 million viewers (peak 14.275 million from 4:45-5:00 p.m. ET).

Telemundo and Peacock FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage: Quarterfinals Become Most-Watched in Spanish-Language World Cup HistoryTelemundo and Peacock's coverage of the four FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarterfinal matches averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 10.4 million viewers - the most-watched Quarterfinal stage in Spanish-language media history and up 154% vs. the 2022 Quarterfinals (4.1 million TAD) - per Nielsen Big Data Panel and Adobe Analytics. Linear match window average grew 80% (4.9 million vs. 2.7 million) and streaming Average Minute Audience (AMA) was up 302% (5.5 million vs. 1.4 million). The 2026 tournament also holds the top four most-watched Quarterfinal matches in Spanish-language media history by TAD: Norway-England on July 11 (13.0 million TAD, leading the four matches); Argentina-Switzerland on July 11 (11.8 million TAD, the most-watched Argentina soccer match ever in Spanish-language history by TAD, beating the prior record set during the Round of 32 vs. Cape Verde at 10.6 million by 11%); France-Morocco on July 9 (8.0 million TAD); and Spain-Belgium on July 10 (7.3 million TAD). July 11 ranked as the second most-watched matchday of the tournament to date, with an average TAD of 12.4 million viewers.

Through the tournament's first 100 matches (including the Quarterfinals), coverage across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and Telemundo streaming platforms is averaging a TAD of 5.9 million viewers - up 150% vs. the 2022 tournament through the Quar

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/17/ratings-roundup-argentina-engla...
	See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group