BeIN Sports channels network announced exceptional and unprecedented figures in the history of world football regarding the viewership numbers of matches featuring Arab national teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, topped by Egypt.
The 2026 World Cup competitions, held in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico, concluded yesterday, Sunday, with the Spanish national team crowned champions for the second time in its history after defeating Argentina in the final match by a single goal to nil.
Egypt's national team participated alongside seven other Arab teams in the 2026 World Cup: Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, and Qatar.
Led by Hossam Hassan, Egypt's national team successfully qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in the Pharaohs' World Cup history, while Morocco reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive time.
BeIN Sports channels network clarified that the Arab audience achieved a record number of viewers watching Egypt's epic match against Argentina in the round of 16, with 192.6 million views—a historic and unprecedented figure.
The network noted that the Egypt vs. Argentina match was the most-watched among the 29 matches involving Arab teams, while Morocco's quarterfinal clash against France drew 151.6 million viewers.
It confirmed that Egypt's national team achieved the most prominent historic milestone by securing its first-ever victory in World Cup history, defeating New Zealand 3-1 and finishing second in Group Seven with five points, tied with Belgium at the top.
Egypt did not stop there; it also defeated Australia in the round of 32 via penalties before writing an epic against Argentina in the round of 16, only to fall 3-2 in a match marred by widespread refereeing controversy.
See also | FIFA rankings for national teams after the 2026 World Cup.. Egypt's position
Egypt vs. Iran topped the list of highest viewership in the group stage matches, attracting 107 million viewers despite kicking off at 6 a.m. Cairo and Mecca time.
BeIN Sports revealed that the total viewership for the 29 matches involving Arab teams reached more than 2.1 billion cumulative views, while the group stage alone garnered 1.25 billion viewers, averaging over 54 million per match.
As for the six knockout-stage matches involving Arab teams, viewership rose to even higher levels, recording 854 million combined views with an average exceeding 142 million per match.
Ranking of the top 10 most-watched matches in the World Cup
1 - Egypt vs. Argentina (192.6 million viewers).
2 - Egypt vs. Australia (157.1 million viewers).
3 - Morocco vs. France (151.6 million viewers).
4 - Morocco vs. Canada (149 million viewers).
5 - Algeria vs. Switzerland (123.1 million viewers).
6 - Egypt vs. Iran (107.5 million viewers).
7 - Egypt vs. Belgium (91.7 million viewers).
8 - Egypt vs. New Zealand (84.8 million viewers).
9 - Morocco vs. Netherlands (81.1 million viewers).
10 - Morocco vs. Brazil (75.5 million viewers).
