World Cup Diary - Day 24: England make the semis but it's a shame more fans weren't here to witness it

On the same spot where Yuri Gagarin was launched into space, England took flight and propelled themselves into previously unthinkable realms – the World Cup last four. What a time to be alive.

We arrived in Samara on the “banter bus”, as we hilariously called it (pictured in the inset above). Eight journalists who needed to cover Brazil v Belgium the day before England needed some transportation, and by road was our only possible carriage.

After our driver initially used every excuse under the sun as to why he couldn’t find us, we were on our way. The highway initially was pretty smooth, but as soon as we left Tatarstan and its advanced infrastructure, the roads had fallen into disrepair, making sleep impossible.

We stopped for breakfast at a Russian service station, where I decided to be a little adventurous and point at something, not knowing what it was, and eat whatever I was given – liver. Not a great breakfast food I can tell you.

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We arrived in Samara a little late, so headed straight to the stadium, which was miles out of town, and a helluva walk from where the bus dropped us off.

Samara has been the hottest of the host cities, with humidity levels leaving fans sweltering as they trudged along the expansive walkway to the Samara Arena. After a little digging, I discovered that the reason behind the stadium’s location is that it must be within a certain distance of the airport, which is even further out of town.

Again, England fans were conspicuous by their absence. We had been informed of chartered flights from Stansted, straight to Samara, but not many had seemingly taken advantage of the ease of transport.

The most disappointing sight was the amount of empty seats in the stadium. Neither England nor Sweden had travelled in great numbers, but Samara’s logistical problems and lack of tourist draw – which is not a true reflection of this great city I may add – seemed to have deterred other fans from making the trip.

The game itself was no spectacle, but England did not care one bit. Sweden were as comfortable quarter-final opponent as it could get – immobile up front, an average midfield and laborious defenders.

Even though Jordan Pickford was forced into some fine saves throughout the match, England we’re always well on top, and could have scored more than their two goals.

The atmosphere at the end of the match was strange. A first World Cup semi-final since 1990, but there was nobody there to witness it.

In normal circumstances, Russia would be awash with St George’s flags, louts lining the streets chanting anti-German songs while drinking many a bar dry, but here there is more of a family feel, with rival fans sitting side by side, and the loudest chant being the regular “Russia, Russia!” from locals.

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I am not calling for a return to the dark days of Charleroi or Marseille, but some kind of atmosphere would be welcome – how many times are England going to get this far in our lifetime!

We managed to get away from the media centre in time to find a bar to catch the Russia match. Never mind England’s progress, the real story is how the Russia team, ranked the lowest of all 32 sides to have competed at the World Cup, managed to get all the way to the last eight, a penalty shootout away from a semi final.

There were tears as Ivan Rakitic fired home the winning penalty, but tears of pride. Russia, for all its problems, had a reason to be patriotic again. Now, every fan I have spoken to has informed me they will follow England – well, someone has to.