World Cup viewership remained bipartisan despite Trump’s role, CNBC investigation finds

President Donald Trump on stage with FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, December 5, 2025.

Jia Haocheng | Pool via Reuters

President Donald Trump has made the World Cup one of the most visible political milestones of his second term. But the tournament’s American audience remained surprisingly bipartisan, according to the latest CNBC All-America economic survey.

According to the survey, 49% of registered voters said they watched at least some of the World Cup. This included 51% Democrats, 47% Republicans and 47% independents.

“It goes beyond partisanship, one of the few things in the world that seems to be partisan right now,” said Jay Campbell, a partner at the Democratic polling firm Hart Research, which conducted the survey in collaboration with the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies.

The divide was just as narrow along other political lines, the survey found. Fifty-one percent of voters who supported Kamala Harris in 2024 watched, compared to 47% of Trump voters. Voters who approved or disapproved of Trump followed at roughly the same rates, 47% and 50%, respectively.

The four-point gap between Democrats and Republicans at the World Cup was smaller than partisan divisions over voters’ favorite sports. Republicans were 13 points more likely than Democrats to choose football, while Democrats held a seven-point advantage in football overall and in basketball.

Only 8% of voters named soccer as their favorite sport, but 17% said they watched the World Cup “a lot” and a further 32% said they watched “a few.”

Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, described the tournament as a place “where Democrats and Republicans agree.”

Read more from the CNBC All-America Economic Survey:

The survey focused on World Cup viewership and asked respondents to identify their favorite sport. The results suggest the tournament largely avoided the partisan divide that followed Trump in much of American culture.

Since returning to office, Trump has chaired the White House task force overseeing the World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino appeared with him several times, and FIFA opened offices in Trump Tower. Trump attended the World Cup draw, held at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, where Trump’s name, which he added to the center, recently had to be removed after a court ruling.

Infantino also gave Trump 10 tickets worth $15,000 to last year’s Club World Cup final, according to Trump’s annual financial disclosure. Trump helped present the trophy and is expected to do so again Sunday during the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

FIFA then awarded Trump its first Peace Prize, drawing scrutiny from European lawmakers and an ethics complaint accusing Infantino of violating FIFA’s political neutrality rules.

Trump’s involvement also extended beyond the ceremonies.

After U.S. striker Folarin Balogun received a red card, which triggered an automatic one-match suspension, Trump called Infantino and asked him to review the call. FIFA placed the suspension on probation, allowing Balogun to play the next match, against Belgium.

The United States lost 4-1 to Belgium and was eliminated. UEFA, European football’s governing body, called FIFA’s U-turn “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” FIFA said its disciplinary committee acted in accordance with the organization’s rules.

However, the controversy did not affect the hearing. Half of MAGA Republicans watched, compared to 46% of non-MAGA Republicans, according to the All-America survey.

The tournament’s international appeal has also deeply affected Trump’s “America First” coalition. Among viewers, 88% said they watched games not involving the United States, including 82% of all Republicans and 86% of MAGA Republicans.

The sharpest divisions were economic and educational. Fifty-nine percent of voters making at least $100,000 watched, compared to 31% of those making less than $30,000. Viewership reached 65% among voters with postgraduate degrees, but fell to 40% among those with a high school diploma or less. These gaps may reflect access to pay television, on which millions of viewers watched World Cup matches.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey was conducted July 8-12 by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. It surveyed 1,000 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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