Harry Kane for England at the 2026 World Cup / The FA
A peak of 15.4 million viewers tuned in to watch England’s thrilling 4-2 victory over Croatia in the World Cup on ITV on Wednesday night.
The true figure is likely to be significantly higher as TV ratings figures do not take account of the millions of viewers watching in non-domestic settings such as pubs, bars and fan parks.
The early figures also only reflect those watching on TV sets at home as full four-screen data – also including smartphones, tablets and computers – is not yet available.
The match itself, which kicked off at 9pm, averaged 14.2 million viewers on ITV1, while the wider coverage including pre and post-match averaged 10 million from 8pm to 11.35pm.
The previous highest peak TV audience of 2026 was 9.8 million for The Traitors on BBC One in January.
