The Mexico national football team's FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign ended with a 3-2 defeat to England in the Round of 16. Played on July 7 at the Estadio Azteca, the match became the most-watched linear TV Spanish-language soccer telecast ever in the United States.
NBCUniversal reported a total average audience of 23.1 million viewers, known as Total Audience Delivery. The streaming service Peacock accounted for 13.0 million viewers, while Telemundo delivered 9.4 million. This record viewership came in a tense match where Mexico played with ten men for over 30 minutes after a red card, weathering nonstop English attacks in the final stages.
El Tri's path to the knockout rounds was dominant. The team finished first in their World Cup group with 9 points, winning all three of their matches. With a +6 goal difference, having scored six times without conceding, Mexico led the group by a five-point margin over South Africa. Their winning streak in the tournament, reflected in a recent form of LWWWW, showed a strong start before the meeting with England.
The Mexico vs. England clash generated massive interest. The viewership figures contrast with another key knockout match. The United States' win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, for instance, averaged 26.4 million viewers in final Nielsen results, up from a preliminary figure of 24.4 million. Telemundo drew 9.8 million viewers for that US round-of-32 victory, which reached a total viewership of 36.2 million.
National TV advertising spend during the tournament has also been huge. According to estimates, from June 11 to July 6, spending on Fox TV platforms totaled $227.8 million. In the same period, Telemundo captured $258.2 million in advertising investment.
Following the elimination, the national team already has its sights set on its next official match. Mexico will face Colombia at home on September 26. The squad will look to rebound from this setback, aiming to maintain the strong performance shown in the group stage, where they had a perfect record.
With a squad that has demonstrated defensive solidity and attacking threat, as seen in our stats, the goal will be to end the year with a victory against Los Cafeteros. The match against England, despite the result, showed the massive following and commercial interest El Tri commands on both sides of the border.
