It has been more than a week since the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2026 and the expectations of most of the channels were placed on the coverage and ratings of the matches.
The injection of audience generated by the different World Cup matches suited a weak small screen like a glove. More than 200 professionals, including hosts, commentators, producers and technicians, were sent by the Argentine audiovisual media to cover the biggest event of the year.
The only channel that broadcasts the 104 matches of the World Cup is DSports, the sports signal of the Waiken ILW group, which closed long-term distribution agreements with almost the entire pay TV market and this allows it to be seen on the main cable operators. They, added to TyC Sports, ESPN, Telefe and America They are the ones with the most special envoys between the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup entered a decisive week and all eyes were pointed towards Lionel Messi and the Argentine National Team. The current world champion began its journey with a resounding 3-0 victory over Algeria thanks to a spectacular hat trick of his captain. The albiceleste also set another record on the small screen: it obtained an average of 38.1 rating points. Only in Telefethe first match against Algeria garnered 34.8 points and was the most watched of the day. On the state channel, the game scored 3.3 points and was second in its slot. To this we must add the numbers of TyC Sports on the cable. It is the highest measurement of open television since the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which was broadcast by Public TV. Thanks to this transmission, Telefe He led in all three stripes with a special schedule and won the day with a mark of 14 points. In it prime timehad a difference of 24.2 points over eltrece. This is the channel’s highest mark since the Club World Cup was broadcast in June 2025.
a wide smile
From very early, this Monday Telefe coverage of the previous one began in A la Barbarossa. There they showed the color of the surroundings of the Dallas stadium with the Argentine fans. The cycle that Georgina hosts was broadcast until 11 in the morning with a peak of 6.4 points, leading open television. Then it was time to World Flashwith the structure of the newscast, which started with 5.6 and obtained a peak of 7.7. From 12 noon, the channel’s official team, with Pablo Giralt, Juan Pablo Varsky and Sofi Martínez to the head, with a floor of 7.9 pointsbegan with the sports and color coverage of the match and It climbed to 30 points minutes before the start.
After 2 p.m., The ball started rolling with a floor of 31.9 points per Telefe. The National Team arrived on the playing field with the mission of securing their ticket to the next round as the leader of their group (J). The team of Lionel Scaloni It started well but lost prominence after Messi’s wasted penalty. This allowed the growth of Austria, which disputed possession during several passages of the game. At 38 minutes, Lionel had his revenge. Facundo Medina reached the bottom of the left and sent a pass back, Jordi Alba style. Thiago Almada let the ball pass and the captain appeared in his favorite area to finish first, left-footed and at the near post. Argentina went 1-0. The maximum mark of the first stage was 36.4 points.
After 3:10 p.m., the second half started with a score of 34.5 points. Messi stepped hard from the first minute and was once again one-on-one after a pass from Enzo Fernández but the play was invalidated due to an offside position. Later, Emiliano Martínez responded with a great save, after a free kick taken by Marcel Sabitzer from the left. The Argentine goalkeeper was once again decisive in maintaining the 1-0 lead against the growth of Austria. Leandro Paredes came on for Rodrigo De Paul and Nicolás Tagliafico replaced Facundo Medina, who had been reprimanded a few minutes earlier. Lionel Messi sealed the match and made history again. He faced up, finished and, after another rebound from the goalkeeper, pushed the ball to make it 2-0. With this goal, the player from Rosario reached 18 goals and stretched his record as the top scorer in the history of the World Cup.
The maximum mark for Argentina versus Austria was 36.4. More than 2 and a half million people followed the game only on the screen of Telefe. Furthermore, they marked 14 points TyCSports and 4.4 the Public Television and DGO.
Football, like few things, measures and the World Cup managed to revive the small screen at a time of audience crisis. To the good figures of open television we must add the numbers of flowthrough which more than one million two hundred thousand users watch the most important meetings. As to DGOtripled its consumption since the competition began. 70% of viewing is given by matches, coverage and analysis of the World Cup.
It is worth remembering that the top 20 positions of the highest rating cycles of 2025 were occupied by the Club World Cup, the Conmebol Libertadores Cup and the 2026 FIFA Qualifiers. The path of the National Team will have a lot to do with the numbers of the coming weeks, within a small screen that needed this oxygen to move forward.
