A peak of 15.4 million viewers watched ITV’s coverage of England’s opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 17th, which saw Thomas Tuchel’s men secure a confident victory against Croatia in Group L.

Produced by ITV Sport Production, part of ITV Studios, the peak audience on a TV set is the highest peak audience of 2026 (ahead of The Traitors at 9.8 million), and the highest peak audience on any channel or streamer since the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament. It is also the biggest 16-34 audience this year with 2.3 million 16-34 viewers.

From kick off to final whistle, an average of 14.2 million viewers watched the match on TV, with an average of 10 million viewers watching the coverage from 8m to 11.35pm.

The game was tied at 2-2 at half-time, with Harry Kane scoring twice for England, and Peter Musa and Martin Baturina scoring for Crostia. But a commanding second half performance from the Three Lions saw them emerge with a 4-2 victory following clinical finished from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Additionally, network data from BT revealed a 363 per cent increase in peak traffic through ITVX compared with an average evening, as fans across the UK tuned in to watch the game live. The match also drove a 109 per cent increase in peak ITVX traffic compared with the previous most demanding ITV match on BT’s network, the opening match between Mexico v South Africa on June 11th – showing how major football moments are increasingly being watched through streaming platforms as well as traditional broadcast TV.

BT’s network data also uncovered the locations driving the biggest ITVX broadband traffic for the England v Croatia match, with Croydon (CR0) coming out on top, followed by Camborne (TR14) and Milton Keynes (MK10).

England will next play Ghana on June 19th. The match will air on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Categories: Consumer Behaviour, Content, Headline, Research

Tags: Croatia, england, Harry Kane, itv, Marcus Rashford, World Cup