Interest in the World Cup is higher in the US, but the USA is not playing football in Germany

• Ipsos Sports polling for June 26-28 showed that fans’ interest in the World Cup is higher in the USA than in Germany
• More than half of football fans in Germany; think about the World Cup and are interested in it, while in the USA it is more than half; and the remaining 6 out of 10 fans are interested in it
• More than half of football fans in the USA are “extremely” or “very” interested in the World Cup; meanwhile, interest in Germany is lower, with 24% saying they are “extremely” or “very” interested

Overall, Ipsos Sports polling, which was conducted by The Associated Press, found that success in the USA at the 2026 World Cup will be driven by American interest in football, rather than by anything else.

Between June 26-28, Ipsos Sports polled a group of Americans, but the results were compared to those of Germans prior to the World Cup. The biggest difference in interest between the two countries is that Americans are more likely to be interested in the World Cup than Germans.

In terms of results, nearly 6 out of 10 football fans in the USA said they are “extremely” or “very” interested in the World Cup, while 25% of Americans said they are “somewhat well” interested. Meanwhile, 55% of football fans in the USA said they are “extremely well” or “very well” interested, and 33% said they are “somewhat well.”

Interest also shows in how Americans rate their own level of interest. Nearly half of football fans in the USA say they are “extremely well” or “very well” interested, while about 17% of Germans say they are “extremely” or “very” interested.

Americans are more likely to say they are interested in football than Germans. In particular, nearly 2 out of 10 Americans say they are football fans, while 5% of Germans say they are football fans. In addition, 8% of Americans said they are interested in football.

When it comes to match outcomes, the survey found that Americans are more likely to support the USA than Germans. In particular, 2 out of 10 Americans said they would support the USA, while the average fan—33%—said they would support the USA.

When it comes to watching matches, Americans are more likely to watch them on TV. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans said they would watch matches on TV, while 5% said they would watch the matches on their phone. In addition, 8% said they would watch matches in a bar.

Ipsos Sports polled 1,027 people, and the sample was selected by KnowledgePanel. The margin of error for the entire group was 3.5 percentage points.

Tags: USA/Sport/Football