Fifa World Cup: ‘Wednesday’s cancelled’ – English media revel in quarter-final success

“Wednesday’s cancelled! Fans go wild as Three Lions reach first World Cup semi-final for 28 years,” said the Sun on Sunday after England beat Sweden 2-0 in the Russian city of Samara.

The Mail On Sunday online edition said: “The Dream Goes On! England in ecstasy.”

It praised the emerging star of the England team, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, for more “heroic saves”, and said 32 million people had watched on TV.

The Sunday Mirror paraphrased the song written when England hosted the 1996 European Championships, saying: “England are in the World Cup semi-finals – could this really be the summer football comes home?”

The broadsheet Observer said in its report: “At the final whistle, the victorious players converged on one another. It took a few seconds for them to gather their breath and then, finally, they could join the party that was already under way behind the goal to their right.”

Despite the euphoria, the paper found fault with England’s victory.