England’s World Cup win over Mexico at 2am breaks viewing records across BBC

Harry Kane (left) and Jude Bellingham scored as England beat Mexico 3-2 in a thrilling World Cup round-of-16 tie in Mexico City. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Harry Kane (left) and Jude Bellingham scored as England beat Mexico 3-2 in a thrilling World Cup round-of-16 tie in Mexico City. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images England’s World Cup win over Mexico at 2am breaks viewing records across BBC Audience of 9.1 million watch live and on iPlayer despite kick-off time, with 48m requests for digital content on Monday England’s triumph over Mexico in the World Cup attracted a peak live audience of 9.1 million on BBC One and BBC iPlayer despite kicking off at 2am BST – the biggest television audience ever for a live UK broadcast at that hour. The dramatic 3-2 win drove the biggest day ever recorded for BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app and for BBC Sport’s social video views, the broadcaster said. The round-of-16 victory, in which Jude Bellingham scored twice and Harry Kane fired home a penalty, also delivered record-breaking audiences across BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with supporters staying up into the early hours or catching up on the drama later that morning. Despite the game kicking off an hour later than scheduled, at 2am BST, the BBC said England’s victory attracted a peak live audience of 9.1 million on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with an average audience of 7.8 million. The match drew the biggest television audience ever for a live UK broadcast between 2am and 4am, the broadcaster said. Happy hangover: England fans press on after late night watching Mexico match Read more The BBC’s director of sport, Alex Kay-Jelski, said: “These are phenomenal figures and a brilliant reflection of what happens when the nation comes together behind England. Millions of fans sacrificed a night’s sleep to witness an unforgettable World Cup victory, while millions more caught up as soon as they woke up. It was one of those truly special sporting moments that people simply couldn’t afford to miss.” The audience was more than triple the previous overnight record set at that time, which was during the Rio 2016 Olympics when more than three million people stayed awake to witness Mo Farah’s 10,000m gold medal triumph alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill’s and Greg Rutherford’s medal-winning performances. The night sparked a huge increase in digital audiences, with England’s progression to the quarter-finals generating 11.6m requests across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, becoming the highest of any major football tournament on the BBC. This contributed to BBC iPlayer’s biggest ever day on record on Monday, with 48m requests for World Cup and other BBC content. Elsewhere, 15 million unique visitors came to the BBC’s website and app, also making it the biggest day on record for both platforms. BBC Sport’s live text coverage page was viewed more than 18.6m times globally, including 13.3m views in the UK. The match al