Since the official opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and up to the match between Uruguay and Saudi Arabia that concluded play on Monday, June 15, mobile traffic across the tournament’s various venues has exceeded 600 terabytes. The opening match at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium has so far placed the greatest demand on mobile networks, as have the matches that captured the most public attention due to surprising results or goal-filled performances, such as Germany’s 7-1 victory over Curaçao.
The data is being monitored in real time through the website mundial5G.telesemana.com, where visitors can explore detailed mobile traffic patterns at every venue across the three host countries throughout each match. Every game provides a unique snapshot of how fans use mobile devices during different moments of play. Traffic spikes are consistently recorded immediately after goals are scored, as well as at the beginning of halftime.
Mobile Traffic at Azteca Stadium
Azteca Stadium recorded 60.4 terabytes of mobile traffic during the tournament’s official opening and the match between Mexico and South Africa, which the host nation won 2-0. The match-level charts also highlight incidents such as yellow and red cards, which frequently coincide with noticeable traffic peaks.
Temporary Spectrum
During that opening match, the primary operator was Telcel, which utilized temporary spectrum in the 600 MHz and 1.9 GHz bands. AT&T Mexico also relied on temporary spectrum assignments in the 3.5 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands, while Altán Redes supplemented its network capacity through temporary access to the 2.5 GHz band.
The stadium was also equipped with extensive indoor connectivity infrastructure to support operations, including Wi-Fi 6 and Distributed Antenna System (DAS) deployments across more than 1,200 antennas. This illustrates the scale of infrastructure investment required to support an event of this magnitude.
The match that followed in terms of mobile traffic volume was Germany’s 7-1 victory over Curaçao at NRG Stadium in Houston. The venue recorded the tournament’s highest halftime data traffic peak so far: 280.8 Gbps, with 41,888 concurrent users inside a stadium with a capacity of 72,220 spectators. Verizon was the primary operator at this venue and, unlike T-Mobile and AT&T, relied heavily on millimeter-wave spectrum to deliver services.
The 5G Star
A similar volume of mobile traffic was generated during the Netherlands versus Japan match. The 2-2 draw produced 53 TB of traffic at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where both the stadium’s namesake operator, AT&T, and Verizon delivered services primarily using C-band spectrum.
All indicators suggest that mobile traffic, carried primarily over 5G networks, will continue to grow as the tournament progresses and matches become increasingly competitive and emotionally charged. Several results have already defied expectations, adding an additional layer of excitement that appears to be driving even greater consumption of digital services.
The real-time mobile traffic information available through mundial5G.telesemana.com may prove valuable to a wide range of stakeholders within the digital ecosystem, particularly telecommunications service providers. By analyzing these patterns, operators and technology companies can identify opportunities to develop new solutions, innovations, and potentially new revenue streams.
