2018: The fifth in our 'recent nostalgia' series, looking back at the behind the scenes World Cup stories from our journalists covering the tournaments.
The Mirror's Make Football Great Again podcast looks back at World Cup finals gone by, gearing up to the biggest-ever tournament this summer
The Mirror's Make Football Great Again podcast looks back at World Cup finals gone by, gearing up to the biggest-ever tournament this summer
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With the countdown on to this summer's World Cup, we've launched a new series going behind the scenes of some of the big moments and untold stories of recent tournaments, from 2002 to 2022.
The Croatia jinx
I felt he had jinxed it, but he wasn’t the only one among the national press to get that bubbling sense that we’d be covering England in their first major final since 1966.
I had popped out at the break to go to the toilet and looked towards other journalists with one thought in our minds: "It's not happening, is it? It can't be true."
There was this sense of utter disbelief that the Three Lions could really do it...
England's defender Kieran Trippier celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup semi-final football match between Croatia and England at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow
Kieran Trippier's first-half free-kick goal against Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals had England fans believing 2018 would be their year
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The word I would use to describe that incredible, and unexpected, run England went on in the 2018 World Cup would be ‘surreal’.
Just two years prior I’d witnessed the national team crash and burn at Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland, something that eventually cost Roy Hodgson his job.
In the intervening period, Sam Allardyce's short spell as manager ended in controversy before Gareth Southgate was handed the reins, with no plans of taking the role on permanently.
What happened in Russia was nothing short of magical for England, but in hindsight, the ingredients were all there; a crop of exciting young players, a few wildcard picks, goals in the form of Harry Kane, and a head coach capable of knitting it all together under a positive atmosphere.
The low expectations perhaps helped at the time. I thought a run to the quarter-finals would be positive, despite that being a mark of failure in previous tournaments, and nothing early on at Russia had suggested that would change much.
A late winner over Tunisia was required in the opener before the thumping against Panama in the second group game. Then a much-changed England side lost to Belgium and secured their path in the knockout rounds.
It all shifted during the Colombia game in the last-16 knockouts. Fans back home had seen it all before, looking so good but inevitably exiting on penalties or by throwing it away in some heartbreaking fashion.
This was a different tournament, a different set of players, a different manager, and a different England.
The eventual shootout win over Colombia was followed up by a convincing triumph over Sweden in the quarter-final, which set up the final-four showdown with Croatia, as the path seemingly opened for the nation to finally take its chance at glory.
Everyone remembers Kieran Trippier’s goal in that semi-final, which gave England the lead heading into the break, it was a moment where that belief started to build again.
As an England fan myself, I was desperate to see them go all the way and finally get over the line.
Of course, that’s not how the story ends, as much as we tried to will the team all the way to glory.
I mean, even if England did reach the final, I don’t think we would’ve won. I think France would have probably won it 3-1, but the fact that they would’ve had a chance in a one-off game was all the hope that was needed.
That was cruelly snatched away, as we all remember, and I still blame Andy for jinxing the whole thing.
But it brings up a strange emotion over the tournament. In one part, it’s surreal and full of fond memories. In the other, it’s the heartbreak of it all that still lingers, even in reflection.
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Three minutes of darkness a day in dull Repino… and the origins of Maguire’s ‘Slabhead’ nickname
A general view taken on December 04, 2017 shows the four-star forRestMix club hotel which was chosen to be England's national football team's base for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in the village of Repino on the Baltic coast near Saint Petersburg
The forRestMix club hotel in the village of Repino, which was chosen to be the England's national football team's base for the 2018 World Cup, pictured during the winter before the tournament took place(Image: OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Repino, a small town just outside of St. Petersburg with a population of just over 2,000, played host to the Three Lions and us journalists for the competition.
The camp was bordering the Gulf of Finland, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there wasn’t much to do, and the feeling around the place was different to anything seen before it.
Some of that, in part, was down to the actual area itself. I recall one night at a bar with some colleagues where some of them had to step outside for some fresh air, and by the time they went out and came back in again, the sun had set and started to rise again.
23 hours and 57 minutes of daylight. Three minutes of darkness. It was very different to being back home.
But that sense of something different extended to the England camp itself, this was a team that had low external expectations heading into the tournament, but quickly made people believe they could earn eternal glory.
Just two years prior, the mood in the England camp at the Euros was poor, and that reflected in their surprise exit to Iceland in the competition. Under the stewardship of Gareth Southgate, there was a different feeling among the squad, as well as a different relationship with the media.
Each day before the games, one of the players would be nominated to play darts against the media.
England's defender Harry Maguire plays darts at England's media centre in Repino
England defender Harry Maguire plays darts at England's media centre in Repino during the Russia 2018 World Cup(Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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This was a call back to the tensions experienced at Euro 2016 surrounding Joe Hart and talks of internal darts matches that were eventually banned from being mentioned to the media.
That lightheartedness showed a new side to this England squad, one that didn’t take itself too seriously all the time.
I took on Harry Kane in my match… it’s fair to say his finishing translates from the pitch to the oche, as he beat me and celebrated like he’d scored the winner at the World Cup final in Moscow.
That relaxed nature translated beyond the usual media duties.
I recall interviewing Harry Maguire during the tournament and Jamie Vardy was hanging around in the background, before he joined in the conversation with us journalists.
In something of a mocking tone, the striker said: "Hi it's Jamie Vardy from the Vardy Express. Can I ask a question, Harry? Yes. Why did they call you Slabhead?" That was the moment everyone became familiar with the defender’s nickname in the camp, but it highlighted the light-hearted nature of everything among the England camp.
It was strange, it was new, it was different. But whatever you want to use to describe it, it was part of this fresh England setup - one that eventually led to the semi-final of that competition.
That laid the bedrock for the two European Championship finals and the World Cup quarter-final that followed it, as the Three Lions continued to get so close, yet so far.