England Fans Defy Sleep to Break Viewing Records in Mexico Match

England's World Cup last-16 match with Mexico was delayed by one hour because of severe weather and kicked off at 02:00 local time in the UK, but that didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of fans staying up very late to watch.

England Captain Harry Kane

The BBC has proclaimed England’s 3-2 World Cup win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium was the most-watched overnight UK broadcast ever after it attracted a peak live audience of 9.1 million. Tuesday’s figures, which relate to those who watched live on BBC One and iPlayer between 2am and 4am, are the first indication of just how many England fans defied sleep to see them pull off one of their greatest victories.

BBC iPlayer recorded its highest ever number of daily requests on the day of the match, totalling 48 million across all World Cup content. Meanwhile, the BBC Sport website and app saw its biggest day on record with 15 million unique visitors and BBC Sport's social platforms registered 330 million video views.

Alex Kay-Jelski, the BBC director of sport, said: “These are phenomenal figures and a brilliant reflection of what happens when the nation comes together behind England. Millions of fans sacrificed a night’s sleep to witness an unforgettable World Cup victory, while millions more caught up as soon as they woke up. It was one of those truly special sporting moments that people simply couldn’t afford to miss.”

A couple of days before the match, FIFA held talks with the English and Mexican football associations after proposing the match be moved to 19:00 local time in the UK, before a U-turn resulted in the kick-off time remaining unchanged.