England defied the odds to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1990 after a surprisingly positive showing in Russia this summer. England narrowly missed out on a place in Sunday’s final after losing 2-1 in extra-time to Croatia last week and France went on to lift the trophy with an impressive victory at the weekend.
However, despite the semi-final disappointment, there has certainly been a lot of positives to take away from this summer’s World Cup, both on and off the pitch. A study conducted by Vanquis Bank with 1,000 UK World Cup fans discovered that families spent twice as much time together during the tournament than at any other time while over half of the respondents said they had more to look forward to during the World Cup. Over a quarter of pensioners said they felt ‘less lonely’ during the tournament, a third of respondents reported feeling closer to strangers and 27% said they had made new friends as a result of engaging in World Cup festivities. So while there will be a lingering feeling of ‘what if’ following the defeat to Croatia, there is no doubt the England team has brought families and the entire population closer together over the past month.