England crashed out of the World Cup last night after a masterful display from Lionel Messi with vast swathes of the nation tuning in.
A peak of 21.5 million viewers and average 15 million on BBC One made England’s semi-final against Argentina comfortably the most-watched game of the World Cup, and most-watched UK broadcast of the year so far.
It was well ahead of the 2-1 triumph against Norway in the previous round, which peaked with 16.8M, according to Barb figures supplied by overnights.tv.
The game kicked off at 8 p.m. local time, satisfying fans who have been frustrated by later kick offs and surely a contributor to the top ratings. Many of England’s games have kicked off at either 10 p.m., or, in the case of Mexico, in the middle of the night. That frenetic 3-2 win over Mexico in the last 16 match was seen by 9M Brits in the small hours of the morning, the biggest TV audience ever for a live UK broadcast between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
While England were chasing their first World Cup for 60 years, it was to be heartbreak. After going 1-0 up through Anthony Gordon, the magnificent GOAT Lionel Messi set up two goals in the final 10 minutes to lead Argentina to victory.
Argentina now go on to face Spain in Sunday’s final, while England will compete in the third placed play off the day before.
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