Over 20m watch England defeat

A peak of almost 21 million viewers tuned in last night to see England suffer a crushing last-minute defeat against France in their first game of Euro 2004.

The figure - which doesn't take into account those who were watching in pubs and clubs, nor those who recorded the game - is believed to be one of the highest audiences ever recorded for a football match.

The peak of 20.7 million came in the dying minutes at 9.30pm, commanding a 73% share of the total audience. Overall, the game averaged an impressive 17.6 million (67%) on ITV1.

Only the Argentina-England and Romania-England games from the 1998 World Cup have fared better in recent years, with audiences of 23.8 million and 19.8 million respectively.

More soon.