Record attendance for the first 72 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 reached 4.6 million fans. This tournament, held in Canada, Mexico, and the USA, features 48 teams, the most ever, according to FIFA.
In just 17 days, the tournament turned 72 matches in 16 host cities into a global celebration of football. According to FIFA, 4,644,549 fans attended, and a staggering 300,000 hot dogs were sold. If you lined up those hot dogs, they’d stretch about 28 miles (45 kilometres) from New York New Jersey Stadium to JFK International Airport.
The tournament has seen 1,248 players from 48 nations, with 999 participating in the group stage. The first 17 days set a strong tone for the rest of the event. Here are some key facts and figures from this historic World Cup.
Tickets
The most requested matches included Portugal vs. Colombia (Miami, June 27), the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final (New York/New Jersey, July 19), and Mexico vs. Korea Republic (Guadalajara, June 18). The top countries buying tickets were the USA, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and France.
FIFA Fan Festivals™
Over 5.5 million fans attended FIFA Fan Festivals across the three host countries during the group stage. They consumed nearly 2 million soft drinks and water and over 2 million alcoholic beverages. On June 24, a record 527,402 people attended the festivals, with Mexico City’s festival seeing a single-day high of 201,500 on June 18. Kansas City’s festival attracted fans from 157 different countries, and on the day Scotland played Brazil in Miami, festival-goers drank 32,000 beers.
Canada Celebrates the FIFA World Cup 2026™
Canada’s passion for football is evident in the Canada Celebrates program, which welcomed 94,250 fans across 22 of its 40 stops. From coast to coast, Canadians have come together for live match screenings, football activities, music, and local culture. By the end of the celebration, Canada Celebrates will have reached every province and one territory, showcasing football’s power to unite Canadians.
Music and Entertainment
The Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Album has achieved great success with 374 million streams by June 22. The Official Song, ‘Dai Dai’ by Shakira and Burna Boy, ranks 2nd on Spotify’s Top 50 Global Chart and 5th on Shazam’s Global Top 200. This album is also at number 152 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, a first for a FIFA soundtrack.
This week, ‘Dai Dai’ and ‘Champions’ by IShowSpeed rank one and 14 on YouTube’s Top 100 Music Videos Global chart. The FIFA YouTube channel now has 30 million subscribers and has received 459 million views of the album songs.
In addition to the official music program, there are over 750 music features at the stadiums. These include more than 350 approved tracks for team warm-ups, goal celebrations, and post-match moments.
Broadcast
More than 50 million viewers tuned in to the opening matches featuring the host nations across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Mexico vs. South Africa match had 7.2 million viewers on Fox, the highest for a FIFA Men’s World Cup opening match ever broadcast in English in the US.
10 million viewers watched Brazil vs. Morocco on Fox, setting a new record for the most-watched non-USMNT group stage match in English-language US television history.
Canada’s first FIFA World Cup victory drew an average audience of 5.3 million, making it the country’s most-watched group-stage match and the highest-rated national team broadcast.
Brazil’s match against Morocco recorded the highest ratings of the tournament with an average of 28.9 million viewers. Globo reached 49.9 million unique viewers for this match across its platforms.
In China, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has already attracted 205 million unique viewers on CCTV channels after 41 games. The match with the highest number of unique viewers was Tunisia vs. Japan.
