A peak audience of 26.5 million people watched England go out of the World Cup on ITV, according to overnight figures.
That made it the most-watched five minutes of British TV since the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
Wednesday's audience peaked between 21:30-21:35 BST as England tried to find an equaliser at the end of extra time in the semi-final against Croatia.
But they couldn't score, meaning Croatia won 2-1 to take them into Sunday's final against France.
The overall TV match average for the semi-final was 24.3 million, which doesn't take into account people watching in pubs or on outdoor big screens.
ITV said there were also a record 4.3 million requests to watch it online on ITV Hub.
About 80% of all viewers watching TV in the UK at the time were tuned into the game.
Its ratings reflected the huge interest in England's first World Cup semi-final since 1990.
However not everyone could stand the tension and some changed channels.
My mum has just turned off the #ENGvCRO match as it was “too much stress” and we are now watching 24 Hours In A and E...— MeeraSyal (@MeeraSyal) July 11, 2018
The previous highest audience during this World Cup was 23.6 million for the climax of England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in the last 16.