13.76 million viewers tune in to watch England beat Panama in the World Cup

FootballSports
28 Jun 2026 • 9:41 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

13.76 million viewers tune in to watch England beat Panama in the World Cup

A peak of 13.76 million viewers tuned in to watch England beat Panama at the World Cup.

The figure was achieved across ITV, STV, ITVX and STV Player for the game on Saturday night which saw the men’s national football team secure the top spot in their group with a 2-0 victory.

The match secured an 80% share of TV viewing at its peak, with an average of 11.98 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.

A peak of 13.76 million viewers watched the England match in which Jude Bellingham opened the scoring (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire)

It is a 1.7 million drop from the team’s opening clash against Croatia, which peaked at 15.4 million viewers and averaged 14.2 million, although kick-off for Saturday night’s game was at 10pm rather than 8pm.

The previous England match against Ghana, which ended in a goalless draw, saw a peak audience of 15.4 million tune in, with the figure achieved across BBC One and iPlayer.

England were already guaranteed a place in the knockout phase following Friday’s fixtures.

Jude Bellingham scored the first goal which was swiftly followed by a smart header from captain Harry Kane who became England’s highest scoring player at a World Cup with his 11th goal.

Celebrating the result on Sunday morning, former England captain Sir David Beckham shared a string of photographs to his Instagram story including one of Bellingham and Kane with the caption “leading by example”.

It was followed by a shot of the England captain with the caption “more records breaking”.

Sir David also shared a video of the MetLife stadium in New Jersey as fans belted out Wonderwall by Oasis, the unofficial World Cup anthem for the England team.

“Sing it loud and proud,” Sir David said.

England’s Harry Kane scored England’s second goal of the match (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire)

Presenting duo Ant and Dec were also at the game on Saturday night and shared a string of photographs including the pair celebrating after England scored.

“What a match,” the caption said.

Meanwhile, EastEnders actor Ross Kemp shared his opinions of the match and said: “We don’t need a pundit to tell us right now that 2-0 is good enough but we were so exposed just then at the back.

“We need to sort out our defence if we are going to proceed in this World Cup. And we should do cause we have got some brilliant players.”

Other stars who celebrated the win include Mumford and Sons singer Marcus Mumford who shared a photograph of himself sporting the England football kit with an emoji of a lion and the song Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve.

Model Cara Delevingne was also in the stands as well as Gossip Girl actor Ed Westwick.

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