The 2026 FIFA World Cup has set a new record for stadium attendance, thanks to an expanded format featuring 48 teams, while FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that television viewership has broken the previous record "many, many times over."

The FIFA President said on Friday that these records were bolstered because "this is the biggest World Cup in history by a wide margin, with 16 additional teams," adding that the tournament "exceeded all expectations."

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In its pre-tournament forecast, FIFA, which includes World Cup revenues in its total annual income, projected that the 2026 edition would generate record revenues exceeding seven billion euros (eight billion dollars). This represents a 56% increase compared to the 2022 edition held in Qatar. Before the third-place match on Saturday and the final on Sunday, FIFA had officially counted more than 6.6 million fans in the stadiums of the three host nations: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. After Spain defeated Argentina to win the world title, media estimated on Monday the total attendance across the tournament's 104 matches at around 6.81 million spectators, although no final official figures have been released by FIFA yet. The five-million spectator mark was surpassed during the France vs. Sweden match in the round of 32. The previous ticket sales record was 3,587,538 tickets in the United States in 1994. Stadiums recorded a record occupancy rate of 99.7% of total capacity, despite ongoing controversy over high ticket prices, with an average attendance of 65,351 spectators per match.

FIFA said on Saturday that "television viewership records have been shattered, both in the host countries and around the world." The federation has not yet published detailed figures, but U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned during a press conference on Friday "nearly six billion viewers." This number is expected to rise. The 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, where Argentina defeated France, was the most-watched in the tournament's history, attracting 1.5 billion viewers, surpassing the 2018 record of 1.12 billion.

Before the 2026 edition began, it was expected that broadcasting rights revenues would rise by 34%, approaching four billion dollars, and sponsorship revenues by 21%. FIFA also confirmed that the tournament was a huge success on social media and the internet. It estimated that "by the end of the round of 16, 5.2 billion people, nearly two-thirds of the world's population, had interacted with the tournament at least once."

Out of the $3.7 billion FIFA planned to spend on the World Cup, a quarter of the amount was allocated to participating teams and the clubs that allowed their international players to take part. The total prize money was raised in late April by 15% to $871 million, compared to $440 million in the Qatar edition.

- "Expansion to 64 teams" -

The winning team was set to receive $50 million. Each participating team was guaranteed at least $12.5 million, although there is no guarantee that this amount will cover the significant increase in expenses, particularly due to the tournament's vast geographical spread.

At the start of the World Cup in June, Infantino said in an interview with Brazilian television, "We have held discussions about expanding the tournament to 64 teams" for the 2030 edition, which will be held in multiple countries (Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, plus Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina), coinciding with the centenary of the most important international football tournament.

He noted that "this matter has been referred to the FIFA Council."