“Football is coming home”. More like home is coming to football.
The phrase has been used by England fans ever since it became obvious their national team has a shot at reaching the later stages of the 2018 World Cup. However, based on the recent hot pursuit for tickets, many of them will have to go to Russia before they have a chance at bringing football back home, something they were reluctant to do until now.
Usually, England followers turn up in huge numbers in football events, so it was a bit strange to see only a few white shirts in the stands against Panama, Tunisia and Belgium. Tensions between the two countries and home propaganda about Russia being an unsafe country put fear in people planning to make the distant trip. As The Three Lions have moved along, more and more of those people have become willing to take the “risk” in order to support Gareth Southgate’s fearless squad.
Now, an army of England fans are expected to flock to the city of Moscow.
“Every second flight were just disappearing before our eyes,”
“I booked the flight in blind faith during halftime in the Sweden game,”
“Work has been very good – most of my yearly holiday – and budget – has been used up in two weeks,”
“We were looking for tickets all day with no joy and decided just to book it. We’ll get tickets in the end – no matter what we have to pay,”
These are all statements made by people preparing to go on what they hope will become the journey of a lifetime.
England fans tickets
FIFA re-opened ticket sales on their official website, but they disappeared quickly. Most England supporters will try to buy tickets for the semi-final game against Croatia on resale websites, touts and random people in search of a profit. There are plenty of Brazilian and German supporters who bought semi-final tickets thinking their teams will still be in contention. Prices start from €350 and go all the way to over €12,000 for the wealthiest out there.
Obtaining tickets would’ve been much more challenging if Russia had defeated Croatia, as the hosts would’ve snatched most of the few available ones. This way, expect to hear plenty of “God Save the Queen” tomorrow. Final tickets will be even harder to find, but it’s not something that will stop England’s fanatics. They’ll be ready to spend a fortune for a seat in Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday.
