More than 10,000 England fans are flocking to Dallas for the team’s wild west World Cup showdown on Wednesday.
Supporters have been swarming into the humid 32C city to soak up the atmosphere ahead of the opening match against old foes Croatia – who ended England’s World Cup dream in 2018 in the semi-final.
Most have spent thousands of pounds on flights, accommodation and, for the lucky ones, tickets – but all say it has been worth it.
Unlike previous tournaments, the WAGs have been staying 1,400 miles away – to keep the boys focused on the task ahead.
In a bid to prevent the wild scenes in Baden-Baden in 2006, families will be at the games but have been forbidden from overnight stays with players.
Bukayo Saka’s fiancée Tolami Benson, Jude Bellingham’s model girlfriend Ashlyn Castro, and Ellie Watkins, who is married to striker Ollie Watkins, are among those who waited in Miami while the team prepared in America’s ‘wild west’ states of Kansas and Texas.
More than 10,000 England fans are flocking to Dallas for their World Cup opener with Croatia
Several supporters have been embracing the local culture in Texas as their excitement grows
One fan poses with a donkey at Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest honky-tonk
Another walks a donkey. A honky-tonk is a type of rough-and-tumble bar, mainly found in the American South and Southwest, that serves alcohol and hosts live country music or dancing
Harry Kane and his squad flew in on Tuesday from their Kansas City base to the Texas city famed for oilmen, the assassination of JFK and the TV soap Dallas.
Ahead of the clash, some of the 10,000 expected England fans have been exploring Dallas – and making a pilgrimage to the Grassy Knoll, the small hillside downtown where US President John F Kennedy was passing when he was shot dead in 1963.
Among them were John and Marie Marland and their 18-year-old son Daniel, and family friends Stuart and Annette Thompson, who between them have spent £23,000 on a trip that has been eight years in the planning.
The three men will go to England’s group matches – their tickets alone costing $9,000 (£6,700) – while the two wives will watch from a fan zone to keep the costs down.
Daniel, a first-year accountancy student at Lancaster University, had to miss his final exam to make the trip but, as his father says, ‘this was all arranged years ago, when he was about 10’.
Mr Marland, 53, an accountant, added: ‘It’s all worth it because I think England will get to the quarters or semis’, while his son said: ‘I think we’re going to win every group game and then breeze through to victory.’
Mr Thompson, 52, who runs an engineering company with his wife, 48, said: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We started years ago, putting money aside in ISAs and things, saving £200 a month. But with the way the economy has been, what should have been a luxury trip has turned into a bit less salubrious. We’re staying in an Airbnb. Fifa really have taken advantage.’
Mrs Thompson said the couple had travelled without their adult children Dominic, 20, and Abigail, 18, adding with a smile: ‘It’s so expensive, we had to leave them behind.’
Her husband joked: ‘Someone had to stay home and put the bins out. But we do love them.’
One England fan takes photo of horses at a barrel race, which is a rodeo speed event
A group of City workers spent time in neighbouring city Fort Worth, a place that was once an important trading post for cowboys
The price of travelling to the World Cup and the cost of tickets and accomodation in the US has been hugely contentious, but these England fans weren’t letting that dampen their spirits
John and Marie Marland, their son Daniel, 18, and family friends Stuart and Annette Thompson, have spent £23,000 between them on a trip that has been eight years in the planning
England flew to Dallas from their Kansas City base on Tuesday, but their WAGS have been staying 1,400 miles away
The England Supporters Travel Club sold tickets to around 3,315 members while another 7,618 die-hard supporters secured seats via the FIFA website.
A group of City workers, who are all schoolfriends from Chesham grammar school in Buckinghamshire, have spent £4,000 each so far – without even bagging seats for any England games.
The seven, all 26, touring ‘Wild West experience’ Stockyard in neighbouring city Fort Worth, said it was their best chance to see a World Cup before turning 30.
Calvin Hill said: ‘We won’t regret the spend. We haven’t got tickets for the game. We are monitoring the prices every day but the prices are going in the wrong direction.’
On Tuesday, the few remaining tickets on the FIFA website were priced up to $11,498 (£8,576), with the cheapest on offer costing $1,983 (£1,479).
Max Glennie, the only one of them living in the US in Washington DC, said: ‘We are here to support and soak up the atmosphere. We won’t just get one ticket – it’s seven or nothing.’
Asked if it had made financial sense for them to have spent so much money when they didn’t have a ticket between them, Arvin Bains said: ‘When you put it like that it doesn’t look a great decision.’
Kick-off is at 9pm UK time. England midfielder Jordan Henderson, who turns 36 on the day of the opener, said: ‘We cannot wait for the first game to show everyone what we can do.’
