A peak audience of 9.1 million viewers tuned in to watch England's World Cup match against Mexico, marking the largest television audience ever for a live UK broadcast between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM BST. The game, which saw England secure a place in the quarter-finals, also averaged 7.8 million viewers on BBC TV and BBC iPlayer.
The dramatic match, played at the Azteca Stadium, featured two goals from Jude Bellingham and England fended off a fightback from Mexico to advance in the tournament. Following the live broadcast, a highlights show garnered significant attention, with 5.9 million streams across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, and the BBC Football YouTube channel. A replay of the match on BBC Two from 7:10 AM attracted a peak of 1.1 million viewers and an average of 900,000.
England is scheduled to face Norway in the quarter-finals on Saturday at 10:00 PM, with the game to be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live. Norway reached the last eight after an upset victory over Brazil, with striker Erling Haaland having scored seven goals in the tournament so far. England's squad may be without the suspended Jarell Quansah and the injured Jordan Henderson, though right-back Reece James is expected to be fit.
Earlier in the World Cup, England's group stage games against Croatia and Panama, which kicked off at later times, also drew substantial audiences. The last-32 win over DR Congo, with a 5:00 PM kick-off, remains the most-watched England game of the tournament to date, reaching a peak of 16.3 million viewers on the BBC. The Croatia opener and the win over Panama, broadcast on ITV, achieved peak audiences of 15.4 million and 13.76 million respectively, while the draw with Ghana on the BBC had a peak viewership of 15.4 million.