A peak audience of 24 million watched as Argentina knocked out England in the FIFA World Cup semi-final last night, across BBC One and BBC iPlayer, giving the BBC an 85% share of all TV viewing.
It was the most-watched live television moment of the year across all broadcasters and the biggest live TV audience for a broadcaster since 2021 (Euro 2020 Final – Italy v England).
The knockout clash averaged 22.1 million viewers on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. It also generated huge digital engagement, with the match streamed 12.6 million times across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.
There were more than 2.8 million UHD streams of the match, and a record breaking 1.8 million concurrent UHD streams, highlighting the growing demand for BBC Sport’s premium live coverage.
The BBC Sport live coverage page on the website and app was viewed more than 24.6 million times globally, including 18.8 million views in the UK, as audiences followed live updates, analysis and reaction throughout the night.
The second-screen 3D experience was used 192,000 times during England v Argentina and 4.6 million times across the tournament so far.
Football Daily has emerged as one of the tournament’s biggest digital success stories, generating more than 5 million streams, including over 3 million views of the visualised podcast on BBC iPlayer.
Across social media, BBC Sport attracted 75 million video views on Wednesday 15 July alone with 2.25 billion over the tournament so far.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final is available to watch live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Sunday 19 July, with Gabby Logan, Wayne Rooney, Micah Richards and Joe Hart all live from inside the New York New Jersey Stadium. Guy Mowbray and Alan Shearer are on commentary duties for the historic match.
Pippa Considine
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