England's Women's World Cup final watched by 14m - but it didn't top Coronation

21 August 2023 , 16:18

1077     0

England's Women's World Cup final watched by 14m - but it didn't top Coronation

A massive 14 million people tuned in to watch England V Spain in the Women’s World Cup on Sunday.

And although the Lionesses didn’t quite take home the trophy this time - losing 1-0 in the World Cup Final with Spain - the number of viewers watching the match in Australia across the BBC and ITV still broke records.

Data released by ratings organisation BARB revealed viewing figures peaked at 14.8 million in the final minutes as many tuned in to see if England could take the game to penalties or secure a late win.

An average of 13.3 million people tuned in throughout the game – a record in the UK for a women’s football match. It shows there is much more support for women’s football now in comparison to 2019, when viewing figures peaked at around 6million.

Last year’s England Lioness victory at the Euro 2022 final was the UK’s most watched broadcast for that year with a peak viewership of 17.4 million.

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness

But although the World Cup Final game broke records for women’s football, it isn’t the most watched event on TV so far this year – as a massive 20.4 million people tuned in to watch the Coronation of King Charles III back in May.

England were gutted not to take home the World Cup trophy after losing 1-0 to Spain (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

This is more than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ’s wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018, which drew in a peak audience of 17.9 million. In contrast, the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was watched by 24 million.

But not more than the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which was watched by more than 28 million people in the UK alone. Globally it is thought viewing figures ran into the billions as people paused to pay their respects to the longest reigning British monarch, following her death in September 2022 at the age of 96.

Now the UK has truly been bitten by the World Cup bug over the last month, it is thought even more support will be thrown upon the mighty Lionesses during their upcoming tournaments.

The 10th edition of the Women's World Cup will be held in 2027 and will be the most comprehensive bidding process in the history of the competition so far. The host nation has not yet been selected, but there are four bids currently on the table.

Brazil, South Africa, USA and Mexico (joint bid) and Belgium, Netherlands and Germany (joint bid) will battle it out to host the next Women’s World Cup in four years’ time.

Until then, fans can watch the next England Women’s game on Friday September 22 when they take on Scotland in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The opening set of games also includes Women’s World Cup winners Spain up against the team they knocked out in the semi-finals, Sweden.

Katie Wilson