England's group games in the World Cup 2011 were watched by up to four million viewers on German television, but less than a million on BBC, which means even with no German involvement, England games were at that point more popular in Germany than in the country the England team actually represents. Observers noted that this gap in popularity was not just due to a lack of gender equality in England, but to the fact that the success of the German women's team meant that there was much more media coverage and interest.