Испани болон Аргентины шигшээ багууд аваргын төлөөх тоглолтод тунан үлдлээ.
2026 оны хөлбөмбөгийн дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээний үзэгчдийн тоо АНУ-д дээд амжилт тогтоолоо. Тухайлбал, долдугаар сарын 5-нд АНУ-ын шигшээ Бельгид 4-1 харьцаагаар хожигдсон тоглолтыг FOX сувгаар 41 сая хүн үзсэн нь тус улсын түүхэн дэх хамгийн олон үзэгчтэй хөлбөмбөгийн тоглолт болжээ. Мөн Telemundo сувгаар Мексик-Английн тоглолтыг 23 сая гаруй хүн үзсэн нь испани хэл дээрх нэвтрүүлгийн түүхэн дээд үзүүлэлт болов.
Telemundo сувгийн спортын албаны дэд ерөнхийлөгч Хоакин Дуро тус суваг үзэгчдийн таашаалд нийцсэн өвөрмөц контент бүтээж, тоглолтын үеэр зар сурталчилгаа гаргахаас татгалзсан нь амжилтад нөлөөлсөн гэв. Тэрээр FOX сувагтай өрсөлдөх зорилго өвөрлөөгүй, харин үзэгчдийн хүсэл сонирхолд нийцсэн, эрч хүчтэй нэвтрүүлэг бэлтгэхийг зорьсон гэдгээ онцоллоо. Испани хэлээрх нэвтрүүлгийн өвөрмөц хэмнэл, сэтгэл хөдлөл нь испани хэлгүй үзэгчдийг ч татаж байна.
Ням гарагт болох Испани болон Аргентины шигшээ багуудын шигшээ тоглолт нь 1930 оноос хойших анхны испани хэлтэн орнуудын финал болж байна. Лионель Месси хуучин баг Барселонагийнхаа өсвөрийн тоглогч Ламин Ямальтай талбайд тулах нь энэ тоглолтын хамгийн сонирхолтой хэсэг юм. Мөн Испанийн дасгалжуулагч Луис де ла Фуэнте, Аргентины дасгалжуулагч Лионель Скалони нарын багшийн багш шавийн харилцаа нь тэмцээнийг улам бүр сонирхолтой болгож байна.
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The 2026 World Cup is coming to a close. When the final whistle is heard on Sunday, the 104th game of the tournament, broadcasters from around the world will point to viewership numbers and proclaim this World Cup as a smashing success.
In the U.S., both FOX and Telemundo, the Spanish-language rights holder of the World Cup stateside, have seen record-breaking spikes in viewership throughout the tournament. FOX reported that viewership peaked at 41 million on July 5 when the U.S. lost 4-1 to Belgium in the round of 16. It stands as the most-watched soccer game in U.S. television history.
The 12 million who watched on Telemundo were part of the most-watched USMNT game on Spanish-language television. A day prior, more than 23 million viewers tuned in to watch the highly anticipated Mexico-England round of 16 game in Mexico City. That also set an all-time Spanish-language TV record. Both networks appeared to be dueling for ratings and competing for viewers. The press releases touting each other’s wins landed in the inboxes of reporters nearly simultaneously.
During the first game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa, FOX cut to commercials during the first-ever FIFA-mandated hydration break. The network returned late, and viewers missed some of the action. Before the tournament, Telemundo had committed to not showing commercials during live action. After FOX’s misstep, staying with the players as they drank water and spoke to their head coaches became a badge of honor for Telemundo.
El Mundial es Nuestro (The World Cup is Ours) went from Telemundo’s World Cup slogan to an overnight rallying cry.
(Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“I went to my boss, and I said, ‘I’m not going to be the first person in this country to do a fourth-quarter break during a live soccer match,” Joaquin Duro, NCBUniversal/Telemundo’s Executive vice president of sports and head of streaming, told The Athletic on Friday. “It was creativity by our sales teams to monetize the space and for it to feel completely non-invasive. And as a fan, it was an amazing moment.”
According to NBCUniversal, 11.4 million viewers watched Argentina vs. England on Telemundo and Peacock, while 9.8 million watched Spain vs. France on the network. The semifinal round averaged 6 million viewers, which is up 147 per cent compared to the 2022 World Cup’s viewership through that tournament’s semifinals.
But Duro also set the record straight about any assumptions that Telemundo and FOX are openly battling each other. “We have not sat in a room saying that we need to beat FOX,” he said. “We have competed against our sales goal, our estimates, our 2022 goal and our 2018 goal. We’re not watching FOX. We don’t read numbers on FOX.”
It has, however, become a standard practice every four years for English-dominant viewers to watch the World Cup in Spanish. The reasons are varied. Some viewers may not like the traditional commentary of an English-language broadcaster. Studio talent like Alexi Lalas, among soccer’s more polarizing television personalities, can be a turn-off for some. The most common reason is that Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcasts are far more energetic.
“There’s something about the way that we call the games and the passion and the rhythm that even if you don’t speak the language fluently, you can tell something’s going on,” Duro said. “You can tell the moment there’s more speed and more rhythm and more words altogether. You can feel the passion of our people, and we plan that on purpose.”
He continued: “We sat down and said, ‘Let’s create these plans from a fan perspective.’ We are fans. What do we want to see? And this is what we created.”
Duro added that there has never been a strategy to target English speakers. He did admit, however, that a key demographic for the network is U.S. bilingual speakers, who he calls two-hundred percenters. “They’re 100 per cent Latino and 100 per cent American,” Duro said. Telemundo is not alone. U.S. brands covet the bi-cultural Latino who consumes media in both English and Spanish.
In that sense, Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina, one that features two Spanish-speaking countries for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930, presents an intriguing opportunity for Telemundo. The Latino audience that will tune in will watch with divided loyalties, as Latin football’s fierce culture and fandom will clash in countless ways.
Argentina, for example, will attract millions of adoring fans from diverse backgrounds and nationalities. Lionel Messi himself is a player who has fans in the U.S. from nearly every culture. Argentina will also bring in hate watchers. There’s a notion that Latinos, particularly South Americans, will automatically support Argentina. But it’s a myth. Argentina’s recent success, coupled with the perceived arrogance of its attitude towards football, can divide more than it unites.
It would be naive to believe that a Brazilian family who watches the final on Telemundo would not cheer for Spain. Brazil has a long-term rivalry with Argentina in a football context. Meanwhile, the Mexican-American audience is Telemundo’s most valued asset. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a Mexican who will support Messi and Argentina against Spain. Mexico and Argentina have met at four men’s World Cups. Argentina won every time, which has led to increased animosity between the two countries’ fans.
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The defending European champions have their own complex relationship with other Latin American countries. On social media and family group chats, many Latinos have facetiously deemed Sunday’s final The Colonizers vs The Colonized. Yet the allure of the Motherland, as Spain is referred to among Latinos, can soften the realities of centuries-old history. On the other hand, the storylines for this final are nearly limitless.
It’s Messi versus Spain’s teenage phenom Lamine Yamal. Messi used to star for Barcelona. Today, Yamal wears the Barcelona number 10 shirt that Messi donned for 17 seasons. And there’s the famous photo of the two as well. It’s also Messi, now universally adored in Argentina, against the country that welcomed him as a 13-year-old.
Messi faces the country he moved to when he was 13 (Elsa/Getty Images)
Messi left Argentina at a young age and developed at Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy. He would win 35 trophies with Barcelona; 34 of them came before he had won anything with Argentina’s senior team. That led to years of vitriolic criticism towards Messi from Argentines before he led Argentina to the 2021 Copa America title, ending the national team’s 28-year title drought.
Sunday’s final will also pit mentor versus mentee. Spain manager Luis de la Fuente was the instructor at the Spanish Football Federation’s academy in Las Rozas when Lionel Scaloni was earning his UEFA coaching licenses. Scaloni and his family also live in Spain. It will also be the first-ever World Cup final featuring the reigning European champions versus the reigning South American champions. It’s a ‘big bang’ moment for Telemundo in its final World Cup contract year.
Telemundo will remain the Spanish-language broadcaster for U.S. Soccer through 2030. It also recently inked a deal to become the Spanish-language rights holder of the German Bundesliga. The English Premier League is also broadcast in Spanish on Telemundo and its streaming platform Peacock. Duro, however, said that there are no current plans to negotiate a new World Cup rights package for the 2030 World Cup.
It makes Sunday’s final all the more special.
