England’s dramatic 3-2 World Cup victory against Mexico early Monday morning set new viewing records for the BBC, the organization has confirmed.
Despite a 2am BST kick-off, the match drew a peak audience of 9.1 million viewers, with an average of 7.8 million watching. This number far surpassed the previous peak for any BBC event shown between 2am and 4am, which was set during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Digital engagement surged as well, with match highlights streamed 5.9 million times on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, and the BBC Football YouTube channel. Additionally, Monday saw a record 48 million requests on iPlayer for World Cup and other content.
A re-broadcast of the match on BBC2 at 7am Monday attracted a peak audience of 1.1 million, with an average of 900,000 viewers.
England beat Mexico 3-2 in a thrilling match on Sunday night (PA)
The match also gained tremendous traction on social media, particularly with a post-match interview of Harry Kane where his voice quivered after joining his teammates and fans in singing Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall’, which racked up 65 million views.
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England now advances to the World Cup quarter-finals, where they will compete against Erling Haaland and Norway on Saturday, July 11. The game is slated to start at 10pm BST, with a potential finish around midnight if no extra time is required.
If the match goes into extra time or penalties, it may end closer to 1am, setting fans up for another late night.
However, this did not deter them in the match against Mexico, and England is now just three matches away from achieving glory. A victory over Norway would put them in the semi-finals for the second time in eight years, as they reached the final four in 2018 under Gareth Southgate’s management.
A potential semi-final would kick off at 8pm BST in Atlanta on July 15, while the final is scheduled for 8pm BST in New Jersey on July 19.
England has only reached the World Cup final once in its history, achieving this feat in 1966 when they defeated West Germany 4-2 to lift the coveted trophy.