LONDON, June 25 — A peak television audience of more than 14 million saw England beat Panama 6-1 in the World Cup, again beating viewing figures for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the BBC figures said today.

Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in yesterday’s match as Gareth Southgate’s men secured their place in the last 16 in England’s largest ever win at a World Cup finals.

The BBC said 14.1 million people watched the match on its main terrestrial BBC One channel — a UK audience share of 82.9 per cent — with 2.8 million live stream requests on its online platforms.

BBC chiefs said the average match audience was 12.8m. It was 16.6m for England’s opening match of the World Cup, the 2-1 win against Tunisia.

The royal wedding on May 19 had an average audience of 11.5 million.

The figures do not include the audience for the build-up and post-match coverage, and do not take into account those watching in pubs or on giant public screens. — AFP