Italy's victory over Belgium in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals drew a huge domestic audience on Friday night, early figures show.
Roberto Mancini's side - England's potential opponents in the final - were made to work for their 2-1 win over the world's number-one ranked side but eventually prevailed inside the 90 minutes in Munich.
In Italy the Euros are being shown by local broadcaster Rai, which reported a new ratings high on Friday night, with an average of 15.48m (65.2%) tuning in for the contest.
The figure built on the 13.28m (61.1%) who had watched the Italian side get pushed all the way to extra time for their victory over Austria in the previous round on June 26.
Rai's previous high for the tournament was Italy's 3-0 group-game victory over geographical neighbours Switzerland on June 16, which was seen by 13.35m (51.9%).
As in the UK, ratings figures do not take into account viewers who watched the game in bars, pubs or other non-household settings.
Neil Wilkes
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