Kane and able: England fans delighted at Euro 2020 quarter-final win

Gareth Southgate led the country to the same stage at the World Cup in 2018.
Fans celebrate in Leicester Square, central London, after England beat Ukraine 4-0 in their Euro2020 quarter final match
PA Wire
Pa Reporters4 July 2021

England fans home and abroad celebrated into the early hours after the Three Lions reached their second consecutive semi-final at a major tournament.

The Three Lions’ 4-0 demolition of Ukraine in Rome set up a clash with Denmark at Wembley with restrictions on capacity set to be eased for the fixture.

Harry Kane scored once in each half, with goals from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson seeing the side through.

It is the second time England have found themselves one game away from a major final in the last three years after Gareth Southgate led the country to the same stage at the World Cup in 2018.

In London, hundreds of England fans repeated the celebrations from Tuesday when the side beat Germany and climbed on to the Shaftesbury memorial fountain in Piccadilly Circus and waved the St George flag.

There were also gatherings in Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square, with one supporter, Marc Ghossein, told PA: “It’s an amazing feeling. We have been waiting for this for 25 years now. We’re almost at the semi-final, it’s coming home. England is going to win this year.”

His friend Ellie Mhanna added: “England is going to win this year’s Euros for sure. They’ve been consistent and they deserve it.”

One woman, whose boyfriend had celebrated the win with the crowd, told PA: “He’s taken off his shirt now, there’s nothing I can do.”

The game was England’s first away from Wembley at the tournament and fans had been urged not to travel with Italy on the UK’s amber list.

England football fans climb the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, central London
PA Wire

But there were fans backing the Three Lions either based in continental Europe or who had travelled through other countries to attend the clash at the Stadio Olimpico.

One England fan based abroad was Steve Faulkner who was celebrating in Rome and told PA: “Absolutely buzzing, great scenes after, all gathering outside the stadium with TV people wanting to film us, singing dancing and knowing that football is coming home.”

Meanwhile Jeff Pedley, 35, a teacher originally from Beverley, East Yorkshire, described it as the “best game I’ve ever been to.”

He added: “I started a chant at one stage: ‘Is this Wembley in disguise?’, because as the game went on, it started to feel more and more like home.

“So many passionate and proud England fans. I had to pinch myself and soak it up. I think we all realised winning 4-0 in a quarter final does not come along often, whoever you are.”

More than 60,000 football fans will be allowed to attend the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 at Wembley if they have a negative Covid-19 test or prove they are double vaccinated.

This could lead to some of the largest crowds in the UK since the start of the pandemic.

All ticket holders will be required to have a negative coronavirus test or provide proof of two doses of a vaccine 14 days before a game.

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