England’s World Cup opener against Tunisia, which saw Harry Kane net a match-winning brace, pulled in a bigger television audience than the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Viewing figures on BBC One peaked at 18.3 million during the closes stages of an entertaining encounter, with those catching the final minutes treated to a dramatic finish. Having bossed proceedings for long periods, Gareth Southgate’s side saw captain Kane snatch a stoppage-time winner and get them off to a perfect start on Russian soil.
More people – 69 per cent of all UK viewers – felt the need to catch Three Lions skipper Harry in action than watch Prince Harry tie the knot at Windsor Castle. On top of those tuning in on television, 3m requests were made to stream the game online though BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport – the biggest audience for an online programme in the broadcasters’ history.
An average audience of 13.7m caught the hard-fought 2-1 victory for England, making it the most-watched programme of 2018 in the UK. That title had previously been held by Britain’s Got Talent, but football now reigns supreme.