The US still holds the World Cup crowd record

In case you've been away from a TV screen, computer, or other people these last few weeks, the 2026 World Cup is currently being hosted across Canada (for the first time), the United States (for the second time), and Mexico (for a record third time).

By every account, this year's edition of the world's biggest sporting event has been full of surprises and has packed social media with international enthusiasm—especially in Latin America, which houses many of soccer's best teams and players.

Yet the bar is high in terms of overall attendance, especially when compared to the last time the United States served as host for the tournament.

As the chart above shows, that 1994 edition of the World Cup drew an average attendance of nearly 70K spectators per match, setting a record which has never been beaten.

1994: The US World Cup?

The 1994 World Cup was an interesting one for a few reasons.

For example, Russia made its tournament debut (it had previously appeared as part of the Soviet Union), while Germany—the defending champions—showed up as a unified country for the first time since 1938, having previously had most of its success as West Germany.

The final between Brazil and Italy featured zero goals and was therefore the first ever World Cup final decided by penalty shootout—something seen oh so many times since.

But above all, the tournament was being held for the first time in one of the few major countries to not really care about soccer.

Given the general apathy of the US towards the sport, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the tournament would be a flop.

Brazil's Fourth Title

And yet, the tournament smashed all records and became the most financially successful edition in history.

Massive US stadiums built for American football allowed for tens of thousands of spectators to attend. People flew in from all over the world, while many locals watched their first soccer games ever.

And when it was all said and done, Brazil defeated Italy to become the first team in history to have secured four World Cup titles. The team celebrated by honoring the recently deceased Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna.

Fast-forward 32 years, and the 2026 World Cup has already smashed the all-time total attendance record, with more games across more countries than ever before. The per-match average is another story; even with stadiums running near 100% full, no edition has topped 1994. The closest anyone's come is the US again, whose 2026 venues are averaging right around that old benchmark. After declining attendance in both Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, this can only be good news for the Beautiful Game.

Source: FIFA. *2026 figures are group-stage totals as of June 30, 2026.