2026 World Cup tipped to be bigger than '100 Super Bowls' by US soccer chiefs

Martin Macdonald

• 26 Feb 2026 07:15 CST
• 3 min read

News

The 2026 World Cup will be '100' times bigger than the Super Bowl, in the opinion of one US soccer boss.

The next World Cup takes place this summer across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It will be the biggest ever edition of the tournament, with 48 nations set to compete for the title of world champions in North America.

The popularity of soccer in the United States continues to grow, though its viewing numbers still pale in comparison to the NFL and basketball.

Having said that, there will be another boom of interest following the World Cup, much like with the 1994 tournament that was also held in America.

“We're expecting it to be the equivalent of viewership for this World Cup, is projected to be 100 Super Bowls. So that's how many people were expecting to to tune in," Lex Chalat, executive director, of the Soccer Forward Foundation, said at a live event this week.

“We're expecting a 50 percent increase of fandom as a result. And really, most importantly, what we're trying to do is maximise the fact that this will be the biggest major sporting event in the world.

“This will be a first for us in how we host it, which is city led, they all are locally looking at how this will be relevant to them and how they can really make the most of this, both economically but also socially. From an impact perspective.

“So at US soccer with soccer Forward Foundation is doing is trying to leverage that uniqueness, that growth and incredible growth of viewership of the game globally, but also the fandom of the game here in the US.

“And thinking about what does that mean for our sport, but also how can we make a social impact? So a big focus here for us on that legacy is really first maximising the fact that people's eyes will be on our sport, that that haven't been previously, particularly here in the United States.

“The popularity of the women’s World Cup back in 1999 and then also USA 94 and what they created in terms of players, coaches and the growth of the game and now how can we build on that now.”

For context, 125 milion people watched this year's Super Bowl, while the record viewership is 137 million.

Soccer now more popular than baseball?

Soccer has apparently overtaken baseball as the third most popular sport in the United States.

At one point, soccer/football was the black sheep among pastimes in America but the increasing popularity of Major League Soccer, as well as increased broadcasting of elite European leagues in the country, has seen a major shift in interest in the sport.

MLS was once seen as a retirement league for big European names but over the last five years there has been a switch in focus towards youth and quality.

Yes, older players do arrive in the United States, but MLS currently boasts the presence of the greatest footballer in history, Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami.

According to a survey by Ampere Analysis, as reported by the Economist, American football and basketball are the two favourite sports for Americans.

A huge 36% of fans surveyed said American football was their favourite sport, followed by 17% for basketball.

Then 10% said soccer which just edged out baseball on 9%.

It's a rather dramatic turnaround considering the previous popularity of soccer and the fact that baseball is historically referred to as 'America's pastime'.

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