A peak of 7.7 million viewers watched ITV’s coverage of the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 across TV and streaming on June 11th, which saw tournament co-hosts Mexico secure a 2-0 win against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Produced by ITV Sport Production, part of ITV Studios, the peak audience across ITV1 and ITVX is the highest peak audience of the year so far across UK commercial television and streaming. It is also ITV’s biggest 16-34 audience this year with 861K.

From kick off to final whistle, an average of 6.6 million viewers watched the match across ITV1 and ITVX, with an average 5.9 million viewers watching the coverage from 7.50pm to 10.35pm. Additionally, ITV’s coverage of the first of the opening ceremonies peaked with 4.2 million viewers.

Mexico took an early lead in the game with Julian Quinones scoring after just 9 minutes. Wolves striker Raúl Jimenez doubled the lead with a well-placed header in the 67th minute. The game will also be remembered for producing three red cards – Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were both sent off for South Africa, whilst Mexico’s César Montes was shown a straight red in second half injury time.

ITV Sport’s coverage continues on June 13th with Qatar v Switzerland on ITV1 and ITVX at 8pm. ITV will also broadcast England’s first match of the tournament on June 17th, with kick off at 9pm, as Thomas Tuchel’s men face Croatia in Group L on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

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Tags: fifa, itv, Mexico, south africa, World Cup