The World Cup final, which aired on Sunday 18th December, was not only one of the most talked-about sporting events of the year – it also amassed an impressive number of viewers.
The thrilling final was watched by a peak of almost 20 million viewers across the BBC and ITV as it came to a nail-biting close.
The match started at 3pm GMT and ended 4-2 on penalties to Argentina following a 3-3 tie across 120 minutes of football. It became the third most-watched World Cup game on UK TV of the entire Qatar World Cup, coming after England’s games against France and Senegal.
Although the final was broadcast on two UK channels, it’s reported that a peak of 14.9m viewers watched on BBC One and 4.4m on ITV1, while the respective averages were 9.1m and 2.7m, according to BARB data supplied by overnights.tv.
For many, it was an exciting ending to the tournament, which saw Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe go head to head and Messi help his team win their first World Cup since 1986.
Although the final was watched by many, England’s quarter-final defeat to France remains the most-watched broadcast of the World Cup and the most-watched single broadcast of the year across all UK TV, with 20m viewers.
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Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was watched by almost 29m – but that was broadcast across more than 50 channels.
While England may have not made it to the World Cup final this year, it has been announced that Gareth Southgate will remain as manager to the England team, although he had remained cagey about the future of his managerial career up until now.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “We are delighted to confirm that Gareth Southgate is continuing as England manager and will lead our Euro 2024 campaign. Gareth and Steve Holland [assistant manager] have always had our full support, and our planning for the Euros starts now.”
Check out our World Cup hub for all the latest from Qatar 2022, including match previews, predictions and analysis.
If you’re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our Sport hub.
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