NEW YORK, July 3 -- For a stretch of 25 minutes on Tuesday night, Folarin Balogun sat on the sideline in Santa Clara with his head in his hands, having been sent off in the 64th minute of what turned out to be the most-watched soccer match in American television history. His teammates held a 2-0 lead over Bosnia and Herzegovina with 10 men and a World Cup knockout round on the line, and the audience watching them do it had never been larger for a soccer game in this country.

Fox's English-language broadcast of the United States' 2-0 win drew 24.43 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen data reported by The Hollywood Reporter, while Telemundo's Spanish-language simulcast on Peacock added 9.1 million more. Combined, 33.53 millio...