‘It’s on ITV – Oh well’: Has Gary Lineker invoked the TV curse?

In the superstitious world of football fandom, there is just one omen worrying England supporters ahead of their last-16 tie – the so-called ITV curse.

The terrestrial rivals have dramatically different records in producing wins for England at major tournaments. Since the first match of France 1998, the BBC has enjoyed a 75 per cent win rate at the World Cup, while ITV's is just 13 per cent.

So far in Qatar, ITV have been getting the most plaudits for their analysis – but they have yet to screen an England goal while BBC have shown nine.

“Oh well,” said BBC anchor Gary Lineker as he announced after the Wales match that the fixture would be on the other side.

There is cause for optimism, however, ahead of the Senegal clash. England overcame a lengthy run without a win at major tournaments on ITV last year as they secured their Euro 2020 semi-final win against Denmark and a group stage victory against Czech Republic. Those results ended a 10-game winless televised run in major tournaments.

Nevertheless, the BBC retain a dramatically better overall win rate at recent big competitions, with 19 triumphs compared with six wins on ITV since 1998.

England have played 31 matches in the World Cup alone from the 1998 edition onwards, of which 16 have been broadcast on the BBC and 15 on ITV. BBC matches have led to 12 wins, one draw and three defeats – working out at an impressive win rate of 75 per cent.

However, the goalless draw against USA last week maintained a win rate of just 13 per cent on ITV. It was the 15th World Cup game on ITV, which has broadcast just two wins, six draws and  seven defeats.