The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and it didn’t take the world-renowned tournament long to smash records in North America. NFL fans are often left dumbfounded by the number of viewers their sport attracts; however, soccer’s biggest event had just told them to “hold its beer.”
FIFA World Cup Opener Dominates Super Bowl 60 Viewership
Anticipation for the FIFA World Cup has been building for months, and fans finally got to witness the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday. Hosted in all of Canada, the USA, and Mexico, this is the first time since 1994 that the US has hosted the tournament.
Viewership for the opening match justified the months of excitement, as the match in Mexico blew the NFL’s Super Bowl out of the water. Popular X account World of Statistics made a fascinating comparison between the viewership numbers for the Mexico-South Africa match and Super Bowl 60, which took place in February.
“Super Bowl LX: 125.6 million viewers… World Cup 2026 Opener: ~1.2 billion viewers,” the account wrote on X.
🏈 Super Bowl LX: 125.6 million viewers
⚽️ World Cup 2026 Opener: ~1.2 billion viewers
— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) June 12, 2026
While comparing an American sport with a global one isn’t necessarily on a level playing field, the interesting stat highlights the margin by which soccer dominates sports fans worldwide. Despite two lesser-popular teams playing in the World Cup opener, soccer enthusiasts around the globe flocked to their televisions to watch.
Mexico Topples Ill-Disciplined South Africa in FIFA World Cup Opener
In a physical contest, Mexico took an early lead in the ninth minute, when Julian Quinones capitalized to open the scoring.
The two sides split two yellow cards ahead of halftime, and the wheels really started coming off for the Africans in the second half, when Sphephelo Sithole was sent off with a red card.
MORE: FIFA World Cup 2026 Simulator
A desperate attempt to level the score again amounted to nothing, as Mexico’s Raul Jimenez found the back of the net again in the 67th minute. The hosts held the South Africans at bay for the rest of the match at 2-0, and the contest didn’t see much more beyond two more red cards split between the two sides.
Seahawks Topped Grueling Last NFL Season With Super Bowl Win
Seattle crawled its way through razor wire this past season, taking down the NFC West in impressive fashion — a division that had three 12-win teams.
Their steady 29-13 clobbering of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 proved their mettle. Kenneth Walker III bagged the MVP award, and quarterback Sam Darnold rounded off an iconic comeback in his career after signing as a free agent last year.
In a game that saw the Seahawks slowly pull away on the back of kicker Jason Myers’ field goals, the Patriots’ offense never got going, as Drake Maye threw two picks and got sacked six times.