A peak audience of 24 million tuned in to watch England’s heartbreaking Fifa World Cup semi-final defeat, BBC Sport has said.
The men’s national team lost 1-2 to Argentina in a nail-biting match in Atlanta, which was the most-watched live television moment of the year across all broadcasters.
The clash also brought in the biggest live TV audience for a broadcaster since 2021, with an average of 22.1 million viewers on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The gripping match saw England’s hopes of ending a 60-year wait for World Cup glory dashed as defending champions Argentina secured their victory with two second-half goals.
The BBC said the match brought in more viewers than the Uefa Euro 2020 final, which left fans devastated after Italy defeated England 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out.
The semi-final gave the broadcaster an 85% share of all TV viewing, and it also received 12.6 million streams across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.
Its new 3D experience was used 192,000 times during the game alone with the feature used 4.6 million times across the tournament so far.
The feature has become an alternative way for fans to watch the World Cup, allowing audiences to relive and view matches in real time from every angle.
Wednesday night’s match saw a number of stars rally behind England following their defeat including Sir David Beckham, Millie Bobby Brown, Ellie Goulding and Liam Gallagher.
England will next face France on Saturday as the teams battle it out for third place at the Miami Stadium in Florida.
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