There were "gasps, there were cheers -- in many cases there was frank disbelief" -- as England beat Sweden and advanced to the semifinals of a World Cup for the first time in 28 years, according to Alexandra Topping of the London GUARDIAN. The win "drew vast crowds to bars and public big screens." Almost 20 million viewers tuned in to the BBC to watch the match on Saturday. It "dominated viewing figures," taking an 87.7% share of the TV audience. England's victory peaked at 19.64 million viewers as the game finished at 4:45pm. The figures were "slightly below the peak of 24 million who saw England's first knockout game against Colombia on Tuesday," which was shown on ITV. An average of 15.8 million watched the match. The viewing figures "do not take into account the large number of England fans who watched the games in pubs and on big screens around the country -- with the true figure likely to be much higher." A record number streamed the event on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, according to the BBC, with 3.8 million live viewers "making it the the most-viewed" live program "so far" (GUARDIAN, 7/8).
RUSSIAN SOCIAL: The World Cup has been one of the most discussed topics online among football fans in Russia this summer, with the official vKontakte (VK) page for the event surpassing 89 million views before the start of the quarterfinals. With more than 97 million active users every month, VK is the biggest social media platform in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, receiving more than 6.5 billion daily messages in more than 86 languages (FIFA).
SERVICE DISRUPTION: The PA reported football fans watching England's quarterfinal game on the BBC iPlayer "were left fuming after the service went down minutes before the end of the game." Viewers said that the streaming service "cut off with around three minutes left of the match" (PA, 7/7).
