England historic World Cup penalty shootout with Colombia win peaks with 24.4m

A 1 minute peak of 24.4m/81% share watched England’s dramatic penalty shootout victory on ITV on Tuesday night (3 July) – the highest TV audience peak since the Olympic Closing ceremony in 2012.

The audience hit a 1 minute peak of 24.4 million viewers at 21.52 when England scored the winning penalty.

This is the highest peak audience for live sport since England played Portugal in the 2004 Euros (peak of 24.7m).

The match had 3.3 million simulcast requests on ITV Hub – The Hub’s biggest ever number for live programming.

The ITV coverage from 18.15 until 22.34 was watched by 16.5m/69% share of viewing – making it the most watched TV event since the Olympic Closing ceremony in 2012.

Between kick off at 7pm and the winning penalty an average audience of 20.2 million viewers were watching, a 77% share of viewing.