Virgin Media O2 and BT Saw Huge UK Mobile Traffic Surge as England Beat DR Congo UPDATE

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has revealed that yesterday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 match between England and DR Congo (2 – 1) fuelled the “biggest mobile traffic event ever recorded” on their mobile network, which saw mobile data (broadband) traffic peak 20.38% higher than the prior peak (during the Arsenal vs PSG UEFA Champions League Final) and 27.67% above a comparable pre-tournament week. EE (BT) reported similar.

The 5pm kick-off naturally coincided with the journey home from work for many, while BBC iPlayer saw traffic surge up 380% compared to a typical weekday afternoon as supporters streamed the match on their phones. O2’s network data also revealed an interesting behavioural shift during the match. After DR Congo took the early lead, activity across apps including TikTok, WhatsApp and Tinder increased, as fans turned to their phones for a distraction. But once the second half got underway and England grabbed an equaliser, usage across all three apps fell as supporters locked back into the action.

However, it’s worth putting that “biggest mobile traffic event ever recorded” claim in the correct context, because demand for data is of course constantly rising and internet connections are forever getting faster, thus new peaks of usage are being set all the time by every provider.

Just for some added context, Ofcom revealed toward the end of 2025 that the average monthly data usage per connection is now 583GB (GigaBytes) across all fixed broadband technologies (up from 531GB in 2024), which rises to an average of 738GB for full-fibre connections (actually down a bit from 766GB).

A similarly interesting event is going to happen at 1am on Monday (6th July 2026), when England play against co-hosts Mexico in another knock-out stage match. The timing means that this is almost certainly going to stress streaming via home broadband and Wi-Fi, particularly if people opt to watch on their phones in bed rather than in front of the TV.

UPDATE 11:49am

BT has separately informed ISPreview that their fixed network saw a new peak in traffic on BBC iPlayer, beating the previous one which occurred during the England v Ghana game. This equated to a 492% increase in peak traffic through BBC iPlayer, compared to an average Wednesday night at the same time.

During the match itself, the provider saw a drop in traffic from the second hydration break onwards of 22.2% up until the England equalising goal – which then itself caused a corresponding increase of 21.7% as people tuned back in with the game being back in the balance and prospect of an England winner (which subsequently arrived via Harry Kane).

Separately, data on their EE mobile network showed an all-time record peak in traffic – 42% higher than the same time on an average Wednesday, and a 21.5% increase on the previous record which took place during the England vs Ghana game on 23rd June.