French Broadcasts Boost FC Pro 26 Viewership 14%

An analysis of viewership data for the FC Pro 26 World Championship at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris showed combined Hours Watched for the World Championship, Last Chance Qualifier and Play-In Stage exceeded 1.68 million, a 12.8% increase over the equivalent events at Esports World Cup 2025. Average Viewers for the series rose nearly 14% year over year while Peak Viewers edged down slightly.

The totals include the Play-In Stage and Last Chance Qualifier. More than 100,000 football-gaming fans tuned into broadcasts across platforms during the Paris festival.

Platform trends varied. Twitch recorded a 34.4% increase in Peak Viewers compared with the 2025 events. YouTube’s Peak Viewers declined 42%, and Kick saw a modest drop. English-language broadcasts remained the most-watched overall, though English Peak Viewers were down about 9% year over year.

French-language coverage showed the largest gain, with Peak Viewers up nearly 700%, making French the tournament’s second-most-watched broadcast language. The French channel otplol_, known for League of Legends content, was the single most-watched channel by Peak Viewers for FC Pro 26.

On the competitive side, Romania’s Razvan “RvPLegend” Puiu of HYPERSPIRIT defeated Germany’s Levy “levyfinn” Rieck of RB Leipzig esports 6-5 in the final. RvPLegend won the $250,000 top prize and levyfinn took $150,000. Both players advanced through the FC Pro Open Cups and the Play-In Stage before reaching the World Championship bracket.

A central Esports World Cup hub is publishing ongoing viewership figures and analysis for the 2026 festival, tracking audience patterns across languages and platforms.