2026 World Cup sets records for attendance, viewership, and revenue

FIFA confirmed on Monday that the 2026 World Cup, which concluded on Sunday with Spain crowned as champion, achieved unprecedented attendance and viewership numbers, with "records broken" both in stadiums and television broadcasts.

Stadium Attendance

Before the final, the organization had already counted 6.6 million fans in stadiums across the three host nations: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Following the Spain-Argentina final (1-0), media reports placed total attendance at 6.81 million spectators across 104 matches, averaging 65,490 per game.

The five-million mark was surpassed as early as the round of 16, during France-Sweden, far exceeding the previous record of 3,587,538 spectators from the 1994 World Cup—an edition hosted solely by the United States with 52 matches, half the current format.

Stadium occupancy reached 99.7%, despite controversy over high ticket prices.

FIFA President's Remarks

"Seven million people in stadiums, ten million on the streets of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and billions in front of televisions," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Friday.

Tournament Structure

The tournament was spread across 16 cities:

• 11 in the United States
• 3 in Mexico
• 2 in Canada

Of the 104 matches, 78 were played on U.S. soil. According to Forbes magazine, the final between Spain and Argentina featured the most expensive tickets ever for sporting events held in the United States.

Television and Digital Viewership

Without final numbers released, FIFA guaranteed on Saturday that "television audience records were broken, both in the host countries and worldwide."

• The 2022 final in Qatar held the all-time record with 1.5 billion viewers
• The 2018 final in Russia recorded 1.12 billion viewers

Before the 2026 edition, FIFA anticipated:

• A 34% increase in television rights, to nearly $4 billion (€3.5 billion)
• A 21% increase in commercial partnerships

On its platforms, FIFA estimates that by the end of the round of 16, 5.2 billion people—nearly two-thirds of the world's population—had interacted with the competition at least once.

Financial Projections

FIFA projected record revenues exceeding €7 billion, representing:

• A 56% increase from 2022
• A 67% increase from 2018

Of the projected $3.7 billion (€3.2 billion) in expenses, a quarter would go to national teams and clubs that released players.

Total prize money rose 15% to $871 million (€763.3 million).

• The champion (Spain) earned $50 million (€43.8 million)
• Each participating team guaranteed a minimum of $12.5 million (€10.9 million)

This figure does not eliminate the impact of increased costs due to the tournament's geographic scale.

Future Expansion

In June, Infantino admitted that "discussions about expanding to 64 teams" are ongoing for the 2030 World Cup, which will mark the competition's centenary and be held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with the first three matches taking place in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has already classified this potential increase in teams as "bad for the World Cup and for the qualifiers."