Argentina’s World Cup victory watched by 14.9m 

Argentina’s World Cup victory watched by 14.9m 

Argentina’s glorious victory over France in Sunday’s World Cup final was watched by a peak of 14.9m people on BBC One. 

With a TV audience share of 58%, the penalty shootout win was streamed 7.1m times on iPlayer and BBC Sport Online.

ITV, who also broadcast the final, saw a peak of 4.4m with a TV audience share of 17.8%. 

BBC TV coverage had a total reach of 38.8m throughout the tournament.

Plus, a record-breaking 104.7m tournament streams was reached on iPlayer and Sport Online.  

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: “One of the greatest World Cup Finals of all time, Argentina and Messi’s victory last night closed off a thrilling four weeks of football.

“A first ever winter World Cup was a new experience for fans and the BBC has once again demonstrated the value of sport when made freely available to all, breaking new streaming records and providing the highest quality coverage, analysis and entertainment across TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Online and BBC Sounds.”

England game breaks records

England’s win over Wales was the most-watched game on BBC TV with a peak of 17.6m. England’s Iran game was the most requested live game across BBC Sport Online and BBC iPlayer with 7.9m requests. 

England’s defeat to France included a five-minute peak of 21.31m – broadcast by ITV – it is the most-watched single channel TV moment of 2022 so far.