England’s appearance in the Euro 2022 final on Sunday is likely to attract one of the biggest TV audiences of the year.
The team’s semi-final victory over Sweden on Tuesday was watched by an average of 7.9 million people, according to overnight ratings.
Sunday’s match, which sees the Lionesses take on Germany at Wembley, should pull in an even larger audience – though it might struggle to match the highest viewing figures of 2022 so far.
That honour currently belongs to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert, which took place in early June and was watched by 13.1 million people on BBC One, according to official ratings.
In second place is the Eurovision Song Contest, shown by BBC One in mid-May, which attracted a TV audience of 9.3 million.
Third is the final episode of BBC One thriller The Tourist, which aired in January and had 9.1 million viewers.
Official ratings are published by research organisation Barb and are consolidated figures, meaning they include people who recorded and watched the broadcast up to seven days later.
They cover audiences watching on TV sets, PCs, tablets and smartphones.
Overnight ratings for the Euro 2022 final will be announced on Monday morning, with official ratings following a week later.
Even if it does not quite attract the biggest TV audience of the year, Sunday’s final should see the highest ever ratings in the UK for a women’s football match.
The number to beat is 9.0 million, which was set by England’s semi-final defeat by the United States in the World Cup in July 2019.
BBC One’s live coverage of the Euro 2022 final begins on Sunday at 3.50pm, with kick-off at 5pm.
