The BBC once again drew significantly more viewers than ITV for the World Cup final, with Spain's victory over Argentina watched by an average of 9.7 million people on the BBC compared with 2.4 million on ITV, according to figures from Digital i. The result mirrors the BBC's four-to-one advantage over its rival at the previous tournament in Qatar four years ago, reassuring corporation bosses over their decision to delay broadcasting from the US until the tournament's later stages and to use a new studio in Salford rather than a US base. Most industry observers attribute the BBC's advantage largely to its lack of advertising breaks, though ITV has been praised for recruiting pundits Gary Neville and Roy Keane, drawing on the popularity of their podcast Stick to Football.

The BBC's coverage, fronted by Gabby Logan with pundits including Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney, peaked at 13.6 million viewers, while ITV's broadcast, presented by Mark Pougatch with Neville, Ian Wright and Keane, peaked at 3.4 million. The figures come amid substantial cuts at the BBC, including further reductions planned for BBC Sport later this year, and as broadcasters adapt to shifting viewing habits, with the BBC reporting 100 million views on its new football YouTube channel and 2.55 billion views across social media clips and analysis. The corporation will not face the same broadcasting-location dilemma at Euro 2028, which is being hosted in the UK and Ireland.