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D ur the day when English fans envisioned the best and cheapest ways to get a ticket to the finals. In the evening, they collapsed on earth, because by far their largest number of supporters of the tournament saw the team lose to Croatia in overtime.
Many had dared to believe after the shootout win over Colombia and the regulation against Sweden that things this year could be different. There had been a lot of optimism during the day, while France in the final would be a tough proposition, there was little doubt that England would do it.
In the end, this was not the case, but in the midst of disappointment there was also a feeling that the tournament was still something to savor, the first World Cup for a long time. In England, fans have been singing and congratulating the team for some time after the final whistle.
"It was an incredible race and I feel lucky to have been here for this game, I'm really excited about what this team can do in the future," said Kieran Davidson, a supporter of Stockport who had booked a last-minute trip to Moscow after England reserved its place in the semifinals.
An intense World Cup atmosphere for the match, after thousands of English and Croatian fans flew to the Russian capital. After the strangely quiet atmosphere of victory in the quarterfinals against Sweden in the difficult places of access to Samara, the atmosphere in the biggest stadium of the tournament was electric. The Croats were outflanked for the first 70 minutes, after Kieran Trippier's first goal, but found their vote after their equalizer, and were sent into delirium by the overtime winner.
In the first two group games of England there were only about 2,000 fans present each time, but as fears of hooliganism and violence in Russia have so far proved unfounded, and as Gareth Southgate's team progressed further than expected, the race in Moscow began. The flights from all over Europe on Tuesday and Wednesday were packed with fans from England rushing to make the last minute trip. Several thousand Croats have also made the trip to attend the first semifinal of their country since 1998, with 10 charter flights from Zagreb landing in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Russian Ministry of Communications said that there had been 6,300 new requests for identification of fans. This document allows visa-free entry to Russia during the World Cup, as England defeated Sweden in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
While the semi-final tickets remained relatively affordable before the match, between 300 and 800 online sellers and resellers, the final ticket market was already several times face value.
Many fans in England were waiting for the semi-final result before taking off. "If we win, I really want to be there, but I just can not afford the odds, I think my wife would reject me if I spent so much, but I do not want to miss England either. World Cup final, "said David, a forty-year-old from Leeds. It's a decision that it will not have to take now.
Although the bilateral political relations between London and Moscow are at their lowest, there were still many Russians for England in the stadium, notably because Russia and Croatia their own beef, partly derived hot links between Moscow and Serbia.
Croatian defender Domagoj Vida added to the long-standing tensions with a video that was released from him shouting "Glory to Ukraine", after his team Russia came out on penalties in quarterbacks final. Whenever he touched the ball Wednesday night, the local crowd made themselves known, whistling furiously.
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