President Donald Trump stands 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, D.C., December 5, 2025.
Jia Haochen | Pool via Reuters
President Donald Trump has made the World Cup one of the most visible political stages of his second term. But the tournament’s U.S. audience remained surprisingly bipartisan, according to the latest CNBC National Economic Survey.
According to the survey, 49% of registered voters said they watched at least part of the World Cup. This included 51% of Democrats, 47% of Republicans, and 47% of independents.
“It goes beyond partisanship, and it’s one of the few places in the world that does that right now,” said Jay Campbell, a partner at Democratic polling firm Hart Research, which conducted the survey with Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies.
The survey found that the divide is similarly narrow on other political lines. 51% of voters who supported Kamala Harris in 2024 watched it, compared to 47% of Trump supporters. Voters who supported President Trump and those who disapproved of him watched at roughly equal rates, 47% and 50%, respectively.
The four-point difference between Democrats and Republicans on the World Cup was smaller than the partisan divide over voters’ favorite sport. Republicans were 13 points more likely than Democrats to choose football, but Democrats had a 7 point advantage in overall football and 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 it “somewhat”.
Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, called the convention a place where “Democrats and Republicans come together.”
The survey asked about World Cup viewership and asked respondents to identify their favorite sport. The results suggest that the convention largely avoided the partisan categories that have become part of much of American culture following President Trump.
Since returning to office, Trump has chaired the White House task force overseeing the World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been present many times, and FIFA has opened an office in Trump Tower. President Trump attended the World Cup drawing at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center, which was recently asked to remove his name after it was added to the center following a court ruling.
Infantino also gave Trump 10 tickets to last year’s Club World Cup finals, valued at $15,000, according to Trump’s annual financial disclosure. Trump helped present the trophy and is expected to do so again on Sunday at the World Cup finals at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
FIFA later awarded Trump its first Peace Prize following intense scrutiny from European lawmakers and an ethics complaint accusing Infantino of violating FIFA’s political neutrality rules.
President Trump’s involvement extended beyond the ceremony.
After U.S. striker Folarin Balogun received a red card and an automatic one-match suspension, President Trump called Infantino and asked him to review the matter. FIFA imposed a suspended sentence and allowed Balogun to play in the next game against Belgium.
The United States lost 1-4 to Belgium and was eliminated. UEFA, Europe’s soccer governing body, criticized FIFA’s reversal, calling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unfair.” FIFA said its disciplinary committee acted in accordance with the organization’s rules.
However, this controversy did not cause a decline in viewer ratings. Half of MAGA Republicans watched it, compared to 46% of non-MAGA Republicans, according to a national poll.
The convention’s international appeal resonated deeply with President Trump’s “America First” coalition. Among viewers, 88% said they watched a game that did not involve the United States, including 82% of all Republicans and 86% of MAGA Republicans.
The more serious rifts were in the economic and educational areas. 59% of voters with incomes of $100,000 or more watched, compared to 31% of voters with incomes of less than $30,000. Viewership reached 65% among voters with a graduate degree, but dropped to 40% among voters with a high school education or less. These disparities may reflect access to pay TV, which allowed millions of viewers to watch World Cup matches.
The CNBC National Economic Survey was conducted from July 8 to July 12 by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. The survey was conducted among 1,000 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
