Canada: World Cup attracting record TV audiences
June 20, 2026



Canada’s men’s national football team made history on June 18th, securing their first-ever FIFA World Cup victory. The match attracted a record average audience of 5.3 million viewers in Canada on TSN, RDS, CTV, Noovo and Crave and became the country’s most-watched FIFA World Cup Group Stage match on record, according to preliminary data from Numeris.

Overall, 11.7 million unique Canadian viewers tuned in for some part of the match, an increase of +34 per cent compared to Canada’s second match at the 2022 tournament. The record-breaking match saw audiences peak with 7.3 million viewers at 8:01 p.m. ET as Canada secured the victory. Additionally, streaming audiences more than doubled compared to Canada’s second match in 2022.


Canada’s 6-0 victory over Qatar now ranks as the country’s most-watched FIFA World Cup match since the 2014 Final.

“The record audiences and unprecedented engagement throughout FIFA World Cup 2026 demonstrate the powerful connection Canadians have with both the global game and Canada’s Men’s National Team,” commented Shawn Redmond, Vice President, Bell Media Sports. “Across broadcast, streaming, digital, and social platforms, fans have come together in extraordinary numbers to follow this historic tournament and support this team on the world stage. These results reflect a landmark moment for soccer in Canada and the passion fans have shown every step of the way.”

Additional Canadian audience highlights from June 11th-18th include:

A total of 21 million unique Canadian viewers have tuned in to watch World Cup coverage so far on TSN, RDS, CTV, Noovo and Crave
Canadians have consumed more than 92 million hours of World Cup live matches, up more than +54 per cent compared to this point in the 2022 tournament
Non-Canada matches have attracted an average audience of 1.2 million viewers, an increase of +54 per cent compared to this point in the 2022 tournament
Major increases for World Cup content on TSN social media accounts on June 18th, including 17 million video views and 32 million impressions
More than 1 million views for Canada-Qatar content World Cup content on YouTube