Fan attendance figures hit a new daily record at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ with a total of 281,223 passing through turnstiles on 16 June.
FIFA said this surpassed the previous record of 277,070 – established on 28 June 1994.
During the group stage, over 4.6 million spectators packed into the stadiums, with an attendance rate of nearly 100 per cent (99.7 per cent) and an average of over 64,000 spectators per match.
Attendance figures for the FIFA Fan Festivals have reached over 5.5 million during the group stage alone.
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will feature 104 matches across 16 Host Cities over 39 days. It kicked off in Mexico City on 11 June.
Spread across three countries, 11 stadiums in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada, the current tournament is the most geographically ambitious World Cup ever staged, reflecting the scale and ambition of the first 48-team edition.
FIFA said that in total, 281,223 fans took their places in the stands across four group-stage encounters – France v. Senegal, Iraq v. Norway, Argentina v. Algeria and Austria v. Jordan – with the combined attendance figure surpassing the previous daily record of 277,070, set on 28 June 1994, which also featured four matches.
The North American showpiece is on course to eclipse the tournament’s all-time cumulative attendance record of 3.5 million, established at the 1994 FIFA World Cup™, by the end of the group stage.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, “Wow! 281,223 fans in FIFA World Cup stadiums today – the highest attended day in the history of the competition!
“16 June 2026 will go down in FIFA World Cup history! I cannot thank our fans enough for bringing colour, atmosphere and emotions to this tournament.
“The most inclusive FIFA World Cup 2026 continues to show just how much our game is loved and how Football Unites The World!”
As a not-for-profit organisation, FIFA reinvests the revenue that it generates from the FIFA World Cup™ to fuel the growth of men’s, women’s and youth football throughout its 211 Member Associations.
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