Frightened fans are begging for England’s second round tie with Senegal to be taken off ITV and moved to the BBC amid fears our World Cup bid will be derailed by the ‘curse of ITV’.
Stats show since 1998 the team boasts a 75% success rate in World Cup matches broadcast on the BBC.
But it has won just 13% of games screened by rivals ITV.
Following England’s 3-0 victory over Wales, shown on the Beeb, they will take on African champions Senegal on Sunday in the tournament’s last 16 – in a game to be broadcast by ITV.
READ MORE: Gary Lineker jokes about ITV ‘curse’ with England’s World Cup last-16 clash not on BBC
BBC host Gary Lineker sparked panic among supporters by signing off his coverage of the Wales game with what appeared a veiled reference to the hoodoo.
He said: “England finished top and will take on Senegal at 7pm on Sunday. And that’s on live on, well… er… ITV. Oh well.”
The comment triggered an outpouring of anguish from fans calling for the commercial channel to be stripped of the rights to show the match. Some pledged to petition the Government to step in and save the nation’s World Cup campaign by insisting all future matches are screened by the BBC.
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Others messaged ITV directly begging them to hand the game over to their rivals.
Patrick Baker wrote: “Dear @itvfootball if you could step aside and let @bbcone show England’s games for rest of #WC2022 we’d all be grateful.
“You must be aware of ‘ITV Curse’. Already seen in action: you showed vs USA game = 0-0 draw whereas vs Iran & Wales both on BBC = easy, high scoring victories.’’
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Russell Collison tweeted: “So, to lift the ‘curse of ITV’ we need ITV to stop showing the England games from now on. Sorry @itvfootball do it for the nation.”
Fan Neil Gower said: “Do the honourable thing @itvfootball and hand over the rights to Sunday’s match to the BBC.”
Wrapping company LVF Packaging tweeted: “The curse of ITV… If anyone’s got a few spare minutes can we get a petition started calling for ITV to be banned from showing England World Cup matches?”
Since 1998 England have notched up 12 wins from 16 games in World Cup matches screened by the BBC and just two victories in 15 matches on ITV.
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The pattern has been reinforced at the current tournament in Qatar. England’s opening 6-2 thumping of Iran was on the Beeb while the drab 0-0 draw against the USA was on ITV, and the Three Lions’ return to winning ways was screened by Lineker and Co.
Match analyst Dean Ayass, who monitors the ‘curse’, tweeted afterwards: “And that takes England’s World Cup win rate on the BBC to 75% compared to 13% on ITV.
“But ENGLAND v SENEGAL IS ON ITV! We all know that the #curseofitv is real. Even @garylineker just acknowledged it!”
(Image: Getty Images)
One fan responded: “We’re going home, we’re going, we’re going home. #curseofitv.” Another wrote: “Genuinely worried about the curse of ITV.”
“We’re out,” added one more.
But broadcaster John Hastings claimed the “so called curse” was ‘broken’ after the channel exclusively screened the Three Lions’ 2-1 Euro 2020 semi-final victory against Denmark. He added: “England will never lose on ITV again.”
Both the FA and BBC declined to comment. ITV had not responded to a request for comment.
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