ITV smashed the BBC in their World Cup TV ratings war as a staggering 20.4million people tuned in to watch England’s last 16 demolition of Senegal.
The peak viewership was spread across ITV TV and their streaming platform.
And it was 1.7m viewers higher than the peak audience for England vs Wales, which was broadcasted by the BBC.
An average of 18.4m viewers watched the full match as goals by Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka booked a quarter final date with current World Cup holders France.
Les Bleus booked their place in the quarters with a 3-1 win over Poland.
Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer on 52 goals, meanwhile Kylian Mbappe took his World Cup finals goals tally to nine, drawing level with Lionel Messi.
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Mbappe has also surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo, who has just eight World Cup goals to his name, with none of those coming in the knockouts.
The Three Lions also broke their ITV curse.
England had played on ITV 28 times in major tournaments since 1998, including the World Cup that year.
Out of those 28 games, the Three Lions had won just SIX times.
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They have lost nine and drawn 13 on the channel, including last week’s dreary 0-0 draw against USA.
England’s 24 per cent win percentage on ITV had fans nervous of a Senegal upset, which didn’t happen.
But they’ll be even more nervous as France will also be shown by ITV.
Live coverage of the last eight tie will begin at 6pm on Saturday.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
