England left in the red despite women's World Cup exploits

Did you see the England game last night ? I hope so because it was a belter. If figures for England's previous games are anything to go by, around 4m people here in Germany will have tuned in to watch Hope Powell's side beat Japan - the fourth-ranked team in the world - 2-0 in Augsburg and seal a quarter-final spot against France. Unfortunately viewing figures back home will be a fraction of that. It is not helped by the BBC's insistence on shoving England games on to their red button service – and the quarter-final is set to be no exception. BBC3 doesn't begin broadcasting until 7pm, so the 5pm kick-offs don't help matters, but a Saturday tea-time England World Cup quarter-final surely deserves a decent billing on terrestrial TV [shameless plug alert: though you will be able to follow live minute-by-minute coverage on this website]. The Porridge mockumentary currently scheduled for that time slot on BBC2 would, I'm sure, be just as hilarious another week, and I doubt Flog It!'s fans would be up in arms if they have to wait an hour or so to watch this week's repeat. Talking points • Also celebrating last night were New Zealand, who scored twice in the dying minutes against Mexico to salvage a 2-2 draw and their first ever point in the tournament. "The #Footballferns didn't get their first 3 points in a World Cup, but HOW we got the first ONE ... I will never forget ..." tweeted the New Zealand captain Rebecca Smith. • Today's games feature two more play-offs for quarter-final positions. The USA and Sweden, Nos1 and 5 in the world, battle for top spot in Group C (with the loser almost certain to take on Brazil in the quarter-finals), while it's winner-takes-all between Australia and Norway in Leverkusen. • Pic of the day: Fifa's TV placements in the press box at the Impuls Arena left a bit to be desired . • Listen to John's latest Audioboo .