According to overnight figures, more people watched Wales’ opening World Cup game than England’s. According to rating agency Barb, 7.4 million people in the UK watched England play Iran on BBC One on average.
In contrast, 9.4 million people watched Wales play the United States on ITV.
The scheduling of the matches can help to explain some of the discrepancies. On Monday, the England game took place in the UK during business hours, while the Wales game occurred at prime time in the evening.
The BBC also called a notice to the substantial audience that watched the England game on iPlayer; these numbers are not entirely reflected in Barb’s terrestrial data.
While away from their typical TV screens at home during work hours, it is likely that more viewers than normal were watching on iPlayer.
Wales’ World Cup appearance was the country’s first in 64 years, even though England participated in the most recent tournament in 2018.
On the opening day of the tournament in Qatar, England defeated Iran 6-2 while Wales tied the USA 1-1.
Wales’ match was also broadcast on the Welsh-language channel S4C, whose viewership is not reflected in the ITV statistics. S4C has been approached by BBC News for its audience statistics.
Wales’ first World Cup goal since 1958 came from a penalty that Gareth Bale claimed he had “no concerns” about taking.
Up until Bale was fouled by Walker Zimmerman and took the penalty kick in the 82nd minute, the USA appeared to be winning.
The Prince of Wales tweeted a message in Welsh and included a photo of a bucket hat worn by one of his Wales supporters as a sign of solidarity.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka scored twice in England’s encounter, and Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, and Jack Grealish combined for the other four goals.
When additional information is taken into account, such as viewers who watched at various times or on certain catch-up platforms, the overall number of viewers for any given match during the tournament will be higher.
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