An average of 16.6m people and a peak audience of 18.7m across TV, iPlayer and online watched England's World Cup victory over Wales on the BBC, a tournament record for the broadcaster.
The total represents a significant increase on the draw with United States in England's second group game, despite Gareth Southgate's team being all but through before kick-off against Rob Page's side. ITV attracted an average audience of 15.1m for Friday's match, with the broadcaster reporting that 11.9m on average had watched the full broadcast, including pre-match build-up.
A rotated England team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Wales, with Marcus Rashford among those to impress. The result ensured England topped Group B, with Wales finishing bottom of the pile after picking up just one point from their three games.
The BBC figures, which come from ratings agency Barb and have been shared by the national broadcaster, represent most but not all of the UK total. The game was also broadcast in Welsh on S4C, with those numbers not part of the total.
In addition, a number of viewers will have watched the game on iPlayer rather than on the live television broadcast. These, too, were not part of the initial overnight numbers when they were released.
England's next game will take place on Sunday evening, with Southgate's men up against Senegal. The reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions booked their place in the knockout stages with a victory over Ecuador, with captain Kalidou Koulibaly deciding the close contest.
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“Definitely compared to Russia, I think there’s a different mentality about the whole group,” Southgate said after the Wales game, referencing his team's run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. “There’s more belief.
“Our objectives are different. In Russia, we were just thinking about, ‘Could we win a knockout game?’. There’s more expectation now, but more confidence and more experience of big matches. I don’t know if we’re ahead of where we were last summer, but definitely we’re pleased that the first objective is achieved.
“The spirit of the team is good, we’ve got most of the group on the pitch, which is fabulous for the dynamic of the group and actually no yellow cards I think as well, which is a really good position for us.”
Rashford's two goals and Phil Foden's one ensured England finished the game as the highest scorers at the World Cup, though the majority of teams had played two games rather than three at the time. Rashford, meanwhile, is one of a handful of players leading the Golden Boot race with three goals.
"I think we’ve played well and navigated a tricky group," Southgate told talkSPORT after England finished with seven points and nine goals from their three games. "We dealt with an occasion [against Wales] that can be very tense, but our players showed their experience, they showed their class and I was really pleased with the way they handled it all."
Senegal earned six points from their three games, losing to Netherlands before beating Qatar and Ecuador. Earlier in the year, they won the Africa Cup of Nations without losing a game along the way, conceding just twice in their seven matches.
