It has been a long journey, and it is not over yet. Whatever happens now, though, the hardcore England fans who have seen every game in Russia feel they can go home satisfied.

“Even if we go out on Wednesday, we’re happy,” said Craig MacDonald, an England fan from Sunderland who has been at all their games. “We’re playing good football, we’ve got a great manager and there’s a link between the squad and the fans, and we haven’t had that for years. At the end, when they all came out to applaud the fans and clap and dance, it was great to see that.”

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The journey so far has not been one for those without the money or stamina for thousands of miles of travel. It started with two wins amid the midges of Volgograd and the heat of Nizhny Novgorod. Next came the strange defeat by Belgium in the exclave of Kaliningrad, in which both countries played their reserve teams, and then the intensely partisan atmosphere of Moscow’s Spartak Stadium as a Colombian‑heavy crowd cheered their physical team on, but England prevailed on penalties. Finally, the strangely flat atmosphere of Samara on Saturday, as just a couple of thousand fans of each team filled small pockets of a stadium mainly populated by locals bored at the low quality of the match, and empty seats.

Up next: Croatia in the semi‑finals. Whatever the result of the game on Wednesday, England will play the full seven matches at the tournament, whether the seventh is the final and a chance at glory, or the third-place game in St Petersburg a day earlier.

Only the most blinkered optimists among the travelling England support expected the team would last the full duration, and there have been many sheepish phone calls to loved ones, children and employers from Russia over recent days explaining that the long holiday here may well be getting even longer.

Due to cost, fears of hooliganism and the current political situation, an unusually low number of England fans travelled to Russia and, if England do go all the way to the final, those will be able to say they saw the whole run will be few and far between.

MacDonald said one friend had come to join their group for the quarter-final, persuaded by the positive reviews of those in Russia, and he had nothing but warm words for the host country and the reception they had received. “Last night was one of the best nights of my life following England,” he said, recounting the long evening in a Samara bar which had put England songs on the karaoke for travelling fans to sing together with willing locals.

“It’s just been a great tournament.”

He said the prospect of an England v Russia semi-final had been something of a worry, as it could have been the first potential flashpoint for fan trouble, but now that has been avoided after Russia lost to Croatia on penalties, few expect trouble to flare in the last week of what has so far been a tournament played in excellent spirits.

Many England fans will surely attempt a last-minute dash to join the party. Those keen to make it to Moscow to catch England’s first semi-final since 1990 will have to be prepared to pay to do so.

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The cheapest direct return flights from London to Moscow leaving Tuesday and returning Thursday were priced at more than £1,000 morning, and even a circuitous indirect route via Lisbon was £600.

On Sunday, tickets for the England game were made available on the Fifa website, believed to be conditional tickets bought by Russia fans, which had become free after Russia were knocked out by Croatia. However, demand for the tickets was high and on Sunday afternoon it was not possible to purchase any over multiple attempts, despite the website showing availability.

Already, tickets for the semi-final are changing hands for large sums. Even face value for the top-category tickets is in excess of £500. Andrew Wordsworth, who saw England beat Colombia and watched Belgium against Brazil in Kazan, said he had paid about £2,100 for a pair of semi-final tickets from an “amiable Australian” he met in Kazan who said he would use the extra money to go on holiday to Ibiza.

If there are any regrets among neutral fans as the tournament enters its final week, it is perhaps that the culmination will be a Europe-only affair, after Belgium knocked Brazil out on Friday. The vast majority of travelling fans who came for the tournament have left or are on their way out.

The South American teams and Mexico were backed by tens of thousands of fans in Russia, unlike most European sides. With the host nation also going out on penalties on Saturday night, the passions will perhaps be turned down a dial in the fan zones and street parties of Moscow that have sprung up over the past three weeks.