Fox Sports grabbed the two most-watched men’s quarterfinals on record, setting up a big finish for its 2022 World Cup coverage from Qatar.
The network’s coverage of France’s 2-1 win over England Saturday was the most-watched men’s quarterfinal on record, averaging 8,855,000 viewers.
That was up 39% from the previous mark of 6,386,000 for Russia vs. Croatia in 2018.
Meanwhile, Fox’s coverage of superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina’s shootout victory over the Netherlands on Friday averaged 6,440,000 viewers – making it the second most-watched men’s quarterfinal on record.
The 2026 World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams — but FIFA is still figuring out what the format will be.
A look at FIFA's options » https://t.co/HFGJOSJSsE
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The World Cup’s strong TV performance impacted CBS Sports competing Army vs. Navy game telecast Saturday.
The annual football game between the two U.S. military academies averaged 6.94 million viewers, according to Sports Media Watch. That’s the smallest number for the game in its traditional stand-alone window since 2014.
With Argentina’s 3-0 win on Tuesday, Messi and Argentina have advanced to Sunday’s World Cup Final in Qatar (10 am ET).