The biggest TV audience of the year so far tuned into see England's Lionesses become national heroes as they beat Germany to win the European Championships on Sunday.
Sarina Wiegman’s team became the first England team to win a major tournament since England's historic World Cup triumph in 1966, with the women competing in their first major final for 13 years.
Going into the sold out game at Wembley, Germany had a much better record of results in games between the two sides, but it was England who took the lead when super sub Ella Toone chipped the keeper to make it 1-0. Germany levelled things up with around 10 minutes of normal time left and, after a nervy and tense first half of extra time, another substitute Chloe Kelly, sealed the euphoric victory after a scramble on the goal line.
READ MORE: Absolute scenes in Newcastle as fan go wild for England's Euros win
Her goal and the final whistle sparked wild celebrations across the country, in London and other cities like Manchester and Newcastle and, as well as those who flocked to pubs and fan zones for the match, many others watched from the comfort of their own homes, with the BBC revealing that ratings for their coverage of the match peaked at a huge 17.4 million, the biggest audience for any 2022 broadcast so far, with another 5.9 million watching it on an online stream.
As well as being a win for the superb Lionesses, England's triumph in the Euros was a massive victory, which has often been over looked and underrated. But, the viewing figures posted by the BBC prove that there is significant interest there, with Match of the Day host Gary Lineker one of the many people to celebrate the ratings.
A fan reacted: "Brilliant viewing figures for the match last night...people don't care if if it's men or women...we just want to see England win something!"
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