ITV’s gamble in choosing to have first pick of the semi-finals – while giving the BBC three of the four quarter-finals – paid off with 10.2m watching England’s thrilling win over Italy on Tuesday, its biggest audience of 2025.
Scenes of pundit Wright’s ecstatic celebration of Michelle Agyemang’s late equaliser against Italy went viral, embodying the feel-good factor delivered by the Lionesses’ success.
Ian Wright’s passionate support for the Lionesses has brought a feel-good factor to ITV’s coverage (photo: Getty)
ITV’s audience has soared from the 2.6m who watched England’s opening 2-1 defeat to France, a result threatening an early exit which would have cost the network millions in lost advertising revenue.
England’s quarter-final win against Sweden on penalties was seen by 7.3m viewers on the BBC.
A peak audience of more than 12m tuned in to the World Cup final last summer between the Lionesses and Spain in Sydney, which was a morning kick-off for UK audiences.
The tournament, consisting of 32 teams, kicks off in June 2027 and will be the first Women’s World Cup to take place in South America. Sixty-four games will be played over eight host cities, with the final taking place on Sunday 25 July.
The BBC, whose coverage has been fronted by Alex Scott, Jeanette Kwakye and Alex Scott, has missed out on England’s semi-final and pivotal group stage gamesThe Euro and World Cup finals must be shown on free-to-air TV as a sporting “crown jewel”. Women’s international football finals were added to the list in 2022. However the BBC and ITV must bid for rights to show those tournaments as a whole, in a commercial negotiation with UEFA and FIFA.
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: “ITV is proud to play a key role in supporting the tremendous growth of women’s football in the UK. ITV Sport is the home of the Lionesses and it’s vital we ensure tournaments like the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 remains free-to-air for generations of football fans to enjoy, with support of the game at an all time high.”
The BBC, which traditionally wins head-to-head battles with ITV when both share major football finals, faced serious competition on Sunday.
ITV pushed forward the start-time of its coverage, led by Laura Woods, from 4pm to 3.30pm. BBC schedulers then changed the start of its final programme, fronted by Gabby Logan, from 4pm to 3.40pm.
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