Screen epics: World Cup 2026 viewing parties around the globe – in pictures

Photographs from across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas show communities gathering to watch the greatest show on earth

Viewing figures for the 2026 World Cup have been massive so far, with footy-mad audiences lapping up the coverage. England’s victory over Croatia had a peak audience of 15.4 million on ITV, but that was nothing compared to Brazil where more than 30 million people watched as the Seleçao beat Haiti. In Japan, the Samurai Blue drew a crowd of more than 20 million to Nippon TV for their match with Tunisia, while crowds watching the game on their phones flooded across Shibuya Crossing to celebrate a goal (pictured below). Of course, the real blockbuster games are still to come: the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France reached an average live audience of 571 million viewers globally, according to Fifa.

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