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Every time the United States men’s national team steps onto a field, they attract plenty of stares, but Wednesday’s game against Bosnia-Herzegovina was historic.
Preliminary figures from Nielsen report that the broadcast on Fox averaged 24.43 million viewers, peaking at 31.88 million late in the game.
That was enough to make it the largest English-language audience for a soccer broadcast in U.S. history.
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The knockout match between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina broke viewership records in the United States. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images)
It just surpassed the previous record – the 2015 Women’s World Cup final between the United States and Japan – which averaged 22.32 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Telemundo’s Spanish broadcast of the match attracted 9.1 million viewers for a combined total of 33.53 million, easily a record for a soccer match broadcast in the United States.
But what else is new? This World Cup has erased audience records since its launch.
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The World Cup matches in the United States attracted massive audiences. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The highly anticipated clash saw the United States attempt to win their first knockout match since 2002 and bounce back from a disappointing loss to Turkey that closed out the group stage.
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Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina looked to spoil the party after exiting Group B as the third-place team, hoping to eliminate the United States on home soil.
American striker Folarin Balogun’s controversial red card was one of the most notable moments in the team’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images))
In the end, the United States took a 2-0 victory, but it came at a cost. Star forward Folarin Balogun was the target of a highly controversial red card that not only knocked him out of the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina – forcing the United States to play the final 25 minutes with a man down – but also ruled him out of Monday’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.
