8 July 2026

This is the best I’ve seen England play since 1966

Football brings the world together

Illustration by Charlotte Trounce

What I have enjoyed best about the World Cup has been the crowds – apart from, of course, England getting through against Mexico. Energy and positive play at last, from the whole team: the best I’ve seen since, er… let me think… 1966. Hurrah.

But the crowds at every game have been brilliant, from all the nations. So happy, enjoying themselves, dressing up and dancing. And so many families. I sense they are in fact not regular football fans, like the poor sods who watch Spurs every week. They are on a World Cup jolly, a special occasion, to be remembered forever. Where do they get the money from? Not just tickets, but flights. And many with young children, even babes in arms. Surely they haven’t carted their kids 10,000 miles on planes?

The answer is: of course not. I suspect a huge proportion live in the US as expats. Not just expat Brits, but from elsewhere in Europe, and from South America: immigrant families who settled in the US. Their children are still aware and proud of their heritage, thrilled that their country is on the world map. They are now US citizens, live in the country, and can fairly easily travel to a game.

The thing about these fairweather fans, as opposed to hardcore supporters – who follow their team and suffer every week – is that they want to witness the big occasion and are determined to enjoy themselves.

Every time, over the decades, when I have gone on the tube to Wembley to watch cup finals or England, rival supporters stand side by side, in their team colours, exchanging harmless banter, all pleased to be there.

Wembley has always been like this. Before the war, coming down for the cup final was for most working people the only time in their lives they came to London. My father-in-law was always on about coming to London on a works outing from Carlisle for a cup final in the Thirties. So what did you think of London, Arthur? “I don’t reckon it. I won’t be going again.”

Fairweather fans know and love the famous players. I was amazed at an England game in the Nineties when some middle-aged women beside me started screaming when a sub was coming on – it turned out to be David Beckham. Many England fans at the time considered him a joke figure, a bit thick, with a funny voice, who got sent off against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup.

There was a lot of fighting in the Seventies and Eighties between fans of rival league clubs. It was dangerous to go to Spurs if they were playing Arsenal. Gangs of hooligans roamed the backstreets looking for trouble. That has all stopped. Too expensive to get in. More corporate seats. A big Prem game is now an occasion, though not quite as festive as the World Cup.

I have a godson, Richard, a lawyer aged 60, son of my best friend from my college days, who emigrated to the US. Richard has lived there all his life – yet he is an avid follower of Newcastle United, his dad having come from Tyneside. He watches all the games on TV and supports England. He has seen one World Cup game so far, Egypt vs Iran in Seattle. He managed to get a ticket for $180, the cheapest possible seat.

“It was designated as the Pride (LGBTQ+) Match. Not sure that was sanctioned by the two teams’ nations, but it certainly didn’t dampen the festive scene,” Richard told me. “Pre-game, there was live music in the square… fans of all ages and shirts mingling with each other and with those in rainbow colours. There was a small anti-Islamic Republic/pro-‘Let’s instal the shah’s son’ protest, on the way into the stadium. But once inside, all the Iranian fans were all for their team. Egyptian fans started ‘the wave’ and the Iranian fans finished it.

“On the bus out of the World Cup zone, going back into real America, we overheard a gaggle of women – all young enough to be third-generation emigrées – talking excitedly in perfect LA Valley Girl English as well as Farsi, about the prospect of Iran advancing. All real Americans, just like me.”

So you see, football does bring the world together.

[Further reading: Football is a losing game]