Canada's defender Alphonso Davies celebrates with fans after he and his teammates won their World Cup round of 32 match against South Africa on Sunday.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Bell Media announced an average of 5.2-million Canadians tuned in to Canada’s thrilling 1-0 victory over South Africa in Sunday’s round of 32 match, making the broadcast the most-watched non-final knockout match of a FIFA World Cup tournament in Canadian TV history, according to preliminary data from the ratings agency Numeris.
The broadcast, carried on Bell Media’s TSN, RDS, CTV, Noovo, and Crave channels, reached 11.8-million viewers, with 8.2-million tuned in at 4:53 p.m. ET, when Stephen Eustáquio scored in stoppage time to put Canada ahead.
The team’s highest viewership came for its June 18 match against Qatar, when an average of 5.3-million Canadians tuned in, making it the most-watched World Cup group stage match and the most-watched Canadian men’s national team match in Canadian TV history.
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An average of 3.2-million watched Canada’s first match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 12, and 4.1-million watched the team’s 2-1 loss on June 24 against Switzerland.
“The thrilling run of Canada’s Men’s National Team at FIFA World Cup 2026 continues to electrify the country and break audience records, and this unprecedented engagement is a testament to the incredible passion of Canadian fans uniting around the beautiful game,” said Shawn Redmond, vice-president of Bell Media Sports, in a statement.
“The team’s phenomenal performance has made this tournament an unforgettable sporting moment across the country, and these results reflect this extraordinary momentum across broadcast, streaming, digital, and social media.”
Viewership numbers for the match in other countries are not yet available.
The company reported that audiences watching the match on live streaming were nearly triple that of the first knockout stage match for the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.
However, that match did not include Canada, and Bell’s streaming service business was far less robust at the time. In particular, the company is using this year’s World Cup to promote both its Crave streaming service and the addition of CTV and TSN to that service.
Stephen Eustáquio celebrates scoring the winning goal against South Africa with teammates and coach Jesse Marsch, as Canada went on to advance to the World Cup's round of 16 on Sunday.Matthew Childs/Reuters
Bell Media said a total of 26.1-million Canadians, or about 65 per cent of the country, had tuned in to some of its World Cup coverage, which kicked off June 11, including 38 group stage matches that each pulled in at least one million viewers. The company added that Canadians had watched more than 193-million hours of live group stage matches. That was up 125 per cent compared to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which was played at a less advantageous time zone for North American TV viewership.
While the numbers are strong for soccer, they still pale in comparison to other Canadian sports broadcasts for Olympic hockey (7.8-million viewers on average watched this year’s men’s gold medal game in Milan-Cortina), Toronto Blue Jays playoff runs (Game 7 of last year’s World Series drew an average of 11.6-million), run of the mill Super Bowls (8.4-million watched last year’s matchup), or even last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off final, which drew 6.9-million on average.