Despite lingering concerns over the United States' preparedness as host nation, Americans have embraced the 2026 FIFA World Cup at unprecedented levels, with fan festivals, watch parties and stadiums drawing crowds across the country as the tournament passes its halfway point. In Boston, more than a thousand fans packed City Hall Plaza for the city's final fan festival, erupting with every goal scored during England's match against Panama. Jason Jusino, a Medford, Massachusetts resident who has followed the World Cup since it last came to the U.S. in 1994, said the city hadn't felt that kind of energy in years. Similar scenes have played out from Los Angeles' Union Station fan zone to sports bars and parks nationwide, with American fans embracing face paint, flags, and the sounds of Brazilian samba and Scottish bagpipes alike. Television viewership has matched the enthusiasm on the ground. Games featuring the U.S. men's national team drew more than 22 million viewers for matches against Australia and Turkey β€” figures comparable to recent NBA Finals and MLB World Series audiences, though still well short of Super Bowl-level viewership. Fox reported an average of 5 million viewers across 72 group-stage matches, a network record, even as some had worried the tournament's expanded format might feel drawn out. Notably, American interest hasn't been limited to the U.S. team: viewers have turned out broadly across the tournament's expanded field. Bret Myers, who teaches sports analytics at Villanova University's School of Business, said the excitement has largely overshadowed the controversies that preceded the tournament. "Soccer has won," Myers said, crediting both the scale of the event and the USMNT's strong start β€” including its first win of the tournament β€” with sustaining momentum. He expects American interest to remain high regardless of how the team performs going forward. The surge builds on years of steady growth in U.S. soccer fandom, driven by Major League Soccer's expansion and enduring followings for the Premier League and Liga MX, with the sport's fan base skewing younger and more diverse than those of other major American leagues, particularly within the Hispanic community. Attention now turns to the USMNT's knockout-stage match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, as the team seeks its first tournament knockout win since 2002.