Fourteen million people tune in to watch England's stunning 6-1 win over Panama

The BBC’s share of the TV audience during England’s 6-1 victory over Panama was “one of the largest in the history of television”, with more than eight out of 10 viewers.

The 82.9 per cent share of the audience saw the BBC easily beat the competition as ITV screened St Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold and Channel 4 showed disaster movie The Core. Presenter Gary Lineker said the figures were “staggering”.

Tweeting from Russia, the former England footballer said: “Yesterday’s television audience share for the England game of 82.9% was one of the largest in the history of television in this country. It was on a par with the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. Over 14 million watched at lunchtime on a gorgeous sunny day.” As well as the peak audience of 14.1 million watching on TV, there were 3.05 million demands to stream the game on the iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Official viewing figures, which do not include the millions watching in pubs and on big outdoor screens, revealed the game had an average audience of 9.9 million.

While the TV audience is down on the 18.3 million peak who watched the first game against Tunisia a week ago, it was always expected to be lower for a Sunday afternoon kick-off than for a weekday evening.

Harry Kane’s family and pop star Camila Cabello helped the nation cheer the England captain and the Three Lions on to victory yesterday.

The striker, who scored a hat-trick, had support from his relatives in the stands at the stadium in Nizhny Novgorod. Brother Charlie shared a picture of himself with their parents, Patrick and Kim, standing in prime seats beaming and wearing lanyards.

He wrote: “Harry hat-trick and the powerful [John] Stones... COME ON ENGLAND!! A great goal by Lingard as well and a great team performance.”

Kane’s pregnant fiancée, Kate Goodland, lent her support from home where she threw a party in his honour.

Meanwhile, Cabello, 21, posted an Instagram video of herself cheering and singing her own version of the Spurs fans’ chant: “He’s Harry Kane he’s one of our own ... England!”

The Cuban star, who has 21.4 million Instagram followers, also shared a clip of herself fist-pumping and saying: “Yes, Harry Kane, wooo.”

Cabello, best known for her hit Havana, met the England captain in London in February while presenting a Brit award to Kendrick Lamar.

According to the British Beer and Pub Association, England fans downed 33 million pints while watching yesterday’s match, while £150 million was spent on drink and food.

Simon Cox, manager at the Old King’s Head in Borough, told the Standard that it was the busiest Sunday the pub had experienced for five years. He said there were at least 250 fans inside and 200 outside during the match. On a normal evening, the pub would serve around 60 customers. “It’s been absolutely manic, but good fun, with a good atmosphere and no trouble at all,” he said. “It’s very, very good for trade, and is what the pub trade needs nowadays.”

He added: “I think England do have a chance of winning the World Cup.”

After the game, fans spilled onto the streets in London for an impromptu party. Footage showed buses struggling to drive down Borough High Street.

In Russia, England fans celebrated into the early hours. Around 2,500 were in the stadium in Nizhny Novgorod in 30C heat to witness England’s qualification for the knockout phase with one game to spare. Jay Watson, 34, from Peckham, said the atmosphere was “better than Brazil” four years ago.