The summer of 2018 will live long in the memory.
We saw Jack and Dani win Love Island, England reach a World Cup semi-final, and it didn't rain for months.
While Love Island provided some excellent post-World Cup entertainment and the weather was certainly a bonus, England's exploits in Russia are what 2018 will be remembered for.
Looking back, it's all too easy to forget where England came from. Just two years prior was the ultimate humiliation of crashing out of Euro 2016 to Iceland. That itself coming two years after a group stage exit at the 2014 World Cup. A good tournament from England is perhaps being taken for granted these days, but there was no tournament in which the Three Lions exceeded expectations between 1996 and 2018.
Gareth Southgate's appointment didn't exactly inspire, either. The miserable reign of Roy Hodgson saw Sam Allardyce take charge before being sacked after one game. With the FA perhaps scratching around for solutions, they arrived at a company man, a safe pair of hands who'd been involved with England at under-21 level.
The Three Lions went into the 2018 World Cup with no expectation on them. Brazil were favourites ahead of Germany. Spain had drifted after Julen Lopetegui's controversial departure on the eve of the tournament, while France, Argentina and Belgium were all shorter in the betting than Southgate's men.
But with Argentina and Portugal finishing second in their group, and Brazil and France topping their group, the draw started to open up for England.
With Spain's shock exit to Russia, England knew that their path to a World Cup final could see them face Colombia, Sweden and Croatia, and so it proved to be.
England even won a penalty shoot-out to get past Colombia, before breezing past Sweden.
With France beating Belgium to book their place in the final, England just needed to beat Croatia to join them...
Croatia v England odds at 2018 World Cup
- Croatia - 29/10
- Draw - 2/1
- England - 13/10
It was perhaps a better Croatia side than was initially given credit for, with Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic all aged 32 or under and at the peak of their powers, but England were nevertheless favoured by the bookies.
Kieran Trippier's fifth-minute free-kick was cancelled out by Perisic in the 68th minute, with Mandzukic breaking English hearts in the 109th minute.
Wednesday's semi-final with Argentina promises to be equally as tight, with the Three Lions the most marginal of favourites to progress at 8/11, slightly bigger than they were eight years ago, with Thomas Tuchel's side 17/10 to win in 90 minutes.
Check out the latest England v Argentina betting and most popular betting markets.
Odds displayed above correct at time of publishing and subject to change or withdrawal at any time.
