Record 1.6 million people watched Prague penalty pain

The Ireland team during the penalty shoot-out. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Ireland’s World Cup play-off misery in Prague was the most watched TV programme of the year so far, according to RTÉ’s viewing figures.

The penalty shootout defeat by Czechia, shown live on RTÉ2, was watched by an average of 1.37 million viewers accounting for 78% of those watching television at the time.

Viewing peaked at 1.6 million at 10.34pm just as Czechia sealed victory with the winning penalty.

The match had 1,059,000 streams on RTÉ Player, the highest number of streams for any single event on the station.