England's World Cup campaign began with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Dallas, a match that drew the highest UK television viewing figures of the year with a peak audience of 15.4 million on ITV and an average of more than 10 million, according to Barb data.
The result was secured in part by a second-half blitz, and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford credited the depth of Thomas Tuchel's squad. "I think it's great," Pickford told the FA's Lions' Den show. "We've got attacking options coming on, and you see the likes of Djed Spence coming on defensively. We can break it up, Reece (James) going into midfield. We've got variation all over the pitch, but for me it's refreshing. We know what we can do with and without the ball, but I think for the opposition it's a killer."
“England's 4-2 World Cup win over Croatia attracted 15.4m peak viewers, the year's highest, as Pickford praised the bench.”
Tuchel introduced Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers in the closing stages, along with Spence and Marc Guehi, underlining England's strength in reserve. Pickford believes any opponent would feel demoralised seeing so many stars arriving from the bench.
ITV has won the early television ratings battle for the tournament. The England-Croatia match was the top audience, but ITV also had the second-highest figures for the opening match between Mexico and South Africa (peak 7.7 million). BBC's live coverage of France v Senegal on Tuesday peaked at 6.7 million, though that rose to 7.6 million when streams on laptops and mobiles were included. ITV's coverage of Spain v Cape Verde and the Netherlands v Japan completed the top five.
BBC gambled by opting for more first-pick games in the knockout stages, while ITV loaded its schedule with attractive group matches. BBC will have first choice in the last 32, last 16 and semi-finals, and will show England's second group game against Ghana next Tuesday. Scotland's first World Cup match in 28 years, against Haiti, attracted a peak of 2.8 million despite a 2am kick-off, with 92% of Scottish viewers watching live on BBC One.
ITV also holds England's third group game against Panama and any England quarter-final, which could be against Brazil on a Saturday night – a prospect that will test whether the early ratings trend holds.