Argentina’s dramatic 2-1 World Cup semi-final victory over England shattered television audience records in both the United States and the United Kingdom, underlining the global appeal of Lionel Messi’s side and the tournament itself.
Fox Sports drew an average audience of 15.063 million viewers for Wednesday’s semi-final, making it the most-watched World Cup semi-final in English-language television history, according to Variety. The figure comfortably surpassed the previous record set just 24 hours earlier, when Spain’s 2-0 victory over France averaged 11.462 million viewers.
The audience climbed even higher during the closing stages of Argentina’s comeback victory. Fox recorded a peak of 22.177 million viewers between 4:45 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET as Lionel Messi inspired Argentina’s late turnaround against Harry Kane’s England.
The latest figures represent a huge increase from the previous World Cup. Fox averaged 6.531 million viewers across the two semi-finals at Qatar 2022, while France’s victory over Morocco attracted 6.595 million viewers, a record that lasted until this week’s tournament.
Interest proved just as strong across the Atlantic.
According to Radio Times, England’s semi-final defeat became the most-watched live television programme in the United Kingdom this year. The match averaged 22.1 million viewers across BBC One and BBC iPlayer and peaked at 24 million, accounting for 85 per cent of all television viewing at the time.
The audience comfortably eclipsed England’s quarter-final victory over Norway, which peaked at 16.8 million viewers on ITV1. It also delivered the BBC’s biggest live audience since England’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final in 2021.
The semi-final itself matched the scale of the television audience.
Anthony Gordon gave England the lead before Argentina responded through Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez to book a place in the World Cup final. Messi provided assists for both goals as the defending champions completed another comeback to keep their title defence alive.
The record audiences set the stage for another blockbuster occasion on Sunday, when Argentina meet European champions Spain in the World Cup final at New York-New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford.
England will conclude their campaign against France in Saturday’s third-place play-off in Miami Gardens, while broadcasters will hope the tournament’s final produces another landmark television audience.
