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England 's penalty shootout win against Colombia in Moscow was the UK's most watched television event since 2012, according to ITV .
ITV's coverage of the Three Lions' last-16 clash at the Spartak Stadium attracted an audience of 16.5 million.
Viewing figures peaked at 24.4m for Eric Dier's winning spot-kick, more than any other live sport event since England lost to Portugal on penalties at Euro 2004.
ITV said: "The ITV coverage from 6.15pm until 10.34pm was watched by 16.5m/69 per cent share of viewing - making it the most watched TV event since the Olympic closing ceremony in 2012.
Colombia vs England: Story of the gameShow all 100 1 /100Colombia vs England: Story of the game Colombia vs England: Story of the game England's players celebrate after defeated Colombia in a penalty shootout
AP
Colombia vs England: Story of the game The England players line up
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Former Colombian football player Valderrama during the national anthem
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Colombia players gather in a circle prior to the match
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane heads at goal
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Dele Alli reacts
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane is challenged by Santiago Arias
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game England fans cheer
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Juan Cuadrado and Harry Maguire go up for the ball
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane heads towards goal next to Yerry Mina
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Henderson argues with referee Mark Geiger
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game A Colombia fan cheers
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Kieran Trippier kicks the ball
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Johan Mojica and Dele Alli compete for the ball
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Ashley Young falls against Santiago Arias
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Raheem Sterling on the ball
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Gareth Southgate gestures towards Dele Alli
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Radamel Falcao gestures
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Maguire reacts
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Juan Cuadrado is fouled by Harry Maguire
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Falcao argues withKieran Trippier
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane fouled by Jefferson Lerma
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane fouled by Jefferson Lerma
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jesse Lingard and team mates react after Jordan Henderson goes down following a clash with Wilmar Barrios
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Colombia and England players clash while Harry Maguire makes a VAR gesture
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Henderson reacts after Wilmar Barrios headbutts him
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Wilmar Barrios is shown a yellow card by referee Mark Geiger
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Kieran Trippier gestures
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Hendersonin action against Jefferson Lerma
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Dele Alli lies on the pitch
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Raheem Sterling being barged by a member of the Colombia coaching staff at the end of the first half
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Kyle Walker
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez holds Harry Kane in front of referee Mark Geiger to concede a penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez fouls Harry Kane
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez fouling Harry Kane
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez fouls Harry Kane
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez fouls Harry Kane
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Sanchez is shown a yellow card by referee Mark Geiger
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Henderson is shown a yellow card by referee Mark Geiger
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane scores the opening goal from a penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane celebrates scoring the first goal
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Gareth Southgate celebrates England's opening goal
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game England's players celebrate the opening goal
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Radamel Falcao is shown a yellow card by referee Mark Geiger
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game James Rodriguez reacts in the stands
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Ashley Young lies on the pitch after sustaining an injury
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Radamel Falcao appeals to the referee
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane jumps for the ball
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Raheem Sterling reacts
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jesse Lingard being tackled by Davinson Sanchez in the penalty area
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane cools down
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Dele Alli is congratulated by Gareth Southgate after being replaced
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Juan Cuadrado reacts
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane watches the ball on the net
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Radamel Falcao reacts
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Kyle Walker reacts next to Jordan Pickford
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Colombia fans react
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game The fourth official announces five minutes of injury time
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Raheem Sterling embraces Gareth Southgate after being substituted
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Pickford makes a save
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Yerry Mina scores
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Pickford concedes a goal scored by Yerry Mina
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Yerry Mina celebrates after scoring Colombia's equalising goal
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game England players look dejected after conceding
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Yerry Mina celebrates with fans
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game James Rodriguez celebrates from the stands after Yerry Mina scored
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game John Stones and Harry Maguire hug
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Yerry Mina celebrates scoring
Peter Dovgan/UK Sports Pics Ltd
Colombia vs England: Story of the game Gareth Southgate speaks with players before extra time
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Colombia coach Jose Pekerman speaks with players before extra time
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Ashley Young clashes with Wilmar Barrios
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Pickford makes a save
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jamie Vardy jumps for the ball with Yerry Mina
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Luis Muriel and Kieran Trippier react
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Henderson sits injured
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jamie Vardy tries to shoot
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Carlos Bacca vies with Kyle Walker
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Kyle Walker reacts as he holds his leg
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Danny Rose reacts as his shot goes wide
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Radamel Falcao scores first for Colombia during the penalty shootout
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Harry Kane scores the first penalty for England
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Juan Cuadrado scores Colombia's second penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Marcus Rashford scored England's second penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Luis Muriel celebrates scoring Colombia's third penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Henderson reacts after missing England's third penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Mateus Uribe hits the bar when taking Colombia's fourth penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game Jordan Pickford saves Carlos Bacca's penalty
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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Colombia vs England: Story of the game
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"The audience hit a one-minute peak of 24.4m viewers at 9.52pm when England scored the winning penalty. This is the highest peak audience for live sport since England played Portugal in the 2004 Euros (peak of 24.7m)."
An average audience of 20.2m viewers watched between kick-off at 7pm and the winning penalty, ITV said, and 3.3m simulcast requests on ITV Hub was its record number for live programming.
The drama also caught the imagination of the nation on social media.
Twitter reported a peak of 127,000 tweets per minute at the moment Dier's penalty sent England through.
The social network said there had been half-a-million tweets saying 'It's coming home' in the past 24 hours, compared to 1.4m mentions in the 20 days since the start of the tournament, as England fans turned to the 1996 anthem Three Lions.
England are into the quarter-finals (Getty Images) Kane was the most talked about player on Twitter on the night, followed by Colombia's goalscorer Yerry Mina, James Rodriguez, Colombia's star man who missed the game through injury, Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina and Dier.
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