SBS has recorded its most-watched FIFA World Cup match, with 4.844 million Australians reached as the Socceroos advanced to the knockout stage of the 2026 tournament.
Australia’s 0-0 draw with Paraguay in San Francisco on Friday, 26 June, delivered a Total TV average audience of 3.086 million across linear television and digital streaming.
Almost 47 per cent of the match audience tuned in via SBS On Demand, underlining the role of BVOD in the tournament’s audience growth.
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Socceroos lift SBS viewing
The result means Paraguay v Australia has overtaken Australia v Türkiye, which drew a Total TV reach of 4.750 million and an average audience of 3.045 million on 14 June.
SBS said the Paraguay match is now the second most-watched broadcast in the network’s history, behind the Socceroos’ 2006 World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.
Cumulative Total TV reach for the tournament has now reached 13.9 million, meaning almost half of Australia’s population has watched at least part of the coverage.
The Socceroos will next play in the Round of 32 in Dallas on 4 July at 4am AEST.
World Cup dominates free-to-air ratings
SBS also led Friday’s free-to-air ratings, with the Paraguay v Australia post-match program reaching 2.872 million viewers.
The pre-match program reached 2.277 million viewers, giving SBS the top three programs of the day.
Across live matches and pre- and post-match coverage, SBS had five of the top 10 programs on Friday.
Since the tournament began on 12 June Australian time, 27 live matches have reached more than one million viewers each.
Top FIFA World Cup matches on SBS
The top five matches to 26 June were:
- Paraguay v Australia – 4.844 million Total TV reach
- Australia v Türkiye – 4.750 million Total TV reach
- USA v Australia – 3.456 million Total TV reach
- Haiti v Scotland – 1.933 million Total TV reach
- Brazil v Morocco – 1.932 million Total TV reach
The Brazil v Morocco match recorded the highest BVOD contribution among the top five, with 62.6 per cent of its audience coming through digital streaming.
The World Cup has also performed strongly with younger viewers, ranking number one on the VOZ daily ratings for 14 of the past 15 days in the 16-39 age group.
On Friday, SBS held the top six shows for that age group.
Ken Shipp, SBS Director of Sport, said the tournament had delivered historic results for the broadcaster.
“This is a historic FIFA World Cup in many ways. In our 40 years of broadcasting the tournament, we’ve never seen national engagement at this level,” Shipp said.
“Australians have embraced both the Socceroos’ campaign and the wider tournament in extraordinary numbers, demonstrating the enduring passion for football in this country.
“We’ve already witnessed some unforgettable football, and with the knockout rounds about to begin, the tournament is entering its most compelling stage.”
SBS is broadcasting the FIFA World Cup 2026 live, free and exclusively across SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand until 20 July AEST.
The broadcaster said SBS Sport’s social platforms have generated more than 369 million video views and 450 million impressions across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube.
Top image: The Socceroos celebrate their victory over Türkiye on 14 June, Getty Images