England has a football team to get behind – after decades of shame on and off the pitch

After enduring a ‘golden generation’ perpetually engulfed in scandal and disappointment, fans are finally celebrating a squad worth believing in

What has happened to my country? An English summer Sunday is usually spent complaining about the weather while sitting on a crowded rail-replacement bus. But not last weekend. An early England kick-off at a World Cup could have been the harbinger of a miserable day, yet by half-time Gareth Southgate’s boys were 5-0 up against Panama, the sun was shining and the country felt different. More than 14 million people tuned in, 82.9% of the TV audience at the time – on a par with the share for the London Olympics 2012 opening ceremony. Suddenly, we found ourselves experiencing something unexpected: a moment of collective joy. (Don’t worry Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – it is very, very early days, the opposition has not been up to much and the newly raised expectations are sure to lead to a hefty dollop of schadenfreude in a week or so.)

It has been a while since England had a start to a World Cup like this. It is not simply that this year’s tournament is the first to take place in an autocratic country since the Argentinian junta enjoyed the PR coup of lifting the trophy in 1978. It is also the first time in 20 years that England’s reputation has not been tarnished by some sort of scandal. For a whole generation, it is their first experience of a country united behind a squad, roaring them on to a glorious penalty shootout defeat in the knockout stages.

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