Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, Kate Kane and Anouska Santos descend on stadium in Germany as they watch their men in semi-final against The Netherlands

England’s glamorous WAGs have descended on Germany once again as they prepare to cheer on their men in the semi-final against the Netherlands. 

Jordan Pickford’s stunning wife Megan led the way ahead of England’s kick-off this as she took to the stands once again in support of her goalkeeper husband. 

Wearing an England top teamed with a glamorous white and blue blazer and skirt combo, she was joined by the likes of Love Island’s Dani Dyer – girlfriend of Jarrod Bowen – and Aine Kennedy, Conor Gallagher’s partner. 

Always first to show her support, Harry’s Kane’s loyal wife Kate was in her Three Lions shirt, hoping to see her husband bring it home for England.  

After boarding another private jet from Manchester Airport to Germany, Kyle Walker’s wife Annie Kilner was also in the audience. 

It comes amid a difficult time for the couple – as Kyle was revealed to have fathered a second child with influencer Lauryn Goodman – but she has still turned up to support him at every game so far.  

Annie – who has vowed not to ‘play happy families’ with Kyle in Germany, opted to keep it casual for the game, pairing a black strappy top with off-white jeans. 

Taking a similar approach was Anouska Santos, Luke Shaw’s girlfriend, who wore grey joggers with her own football shirt and Shaw’s famous number 3.  

Earlier, Megan shared a snap to her social media account showing she was ready for the game in her England top. 

Keeping to her on-theme colour scheme, the stunning WAG opted for blue patterned shoes, teamed with an eye-catching red handbag.

‘Please don’t take me home @jpickford1,’ she captioned the post, alongside several heart emojis.

She wasn’t the only partner showcasing their support ahead of England’s semi-final match against The Netherlands in Germany. Ellie Alderson, partner of England player Ollie Watkins, took to her Instagram to cheer on the squad.

She posted selfies showing off her sporty football top in support of the team ahead of tonight’s game, which kicks off at 8pm.

Posing in front of a mirror in one of her snaps, the radiant partner teamed her cropped T-shirt with white jeans and matching sandals.

Finishing her look off with a smattering of glamorous makeup, she opted for stylish sunglasses and a fashionable handbag. 2

Captain Harry Kane’s wife Kate Goodland also posted a photo to her Instagram account with the caption: ‘Come on England!!’

Smiling for the camera, the stunning mother-of-four sported an England shirt, teamed with an eye-catching silver necklace featuring a heart shaped pendant.

It comes as England football fans are preparing to cheer on the team tonight in their crunch Euro 2024 semi-final match against the Netherlands as they try to make history.

Some 40,000 Three Lions supporters are in Dortmund for the game which kicks off at 8pm as England play their third semi-final in the past four major tournaments.

Millions more will be watching back home on TV with 28million people expected to tune into ITV’s coverage and an estimated 35million pints set to be poured.

The revelry will continue should the team make it through to Sunday’s final against Spain in Berlin, with Tesco announcing it will close all its Express supermarket stores in England early to let staff watch the match should they win tonight.

England were given an official allocation of just 7,255 at the 81,365-capacity stadium, with tickets now selling on resale websites for anywhere between £385 and £8,000.

And EasyJet said its pilots will provide passengers with the latest score in tonight’s match, which will be sent to the flight deck on messages sent from ground stations.

England could reach a second successive Euros final after topping their group in unconvincing fashion; scraping through against Slovakia after a late Jude Bellingham strike in the last 16; then beating Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Britain’s pubs are set for a multi-million pound bonanza from fans who are watching at home.

Landlords expect to pull an extra eight million pints from the pre-match build up to the final whistle.

Thousands of those pints, including gallons of alcohol-free beers, will flow during the late night licensing hours with pubs in England allowed to remain open until 1am for fans to celebrate, or even drown their sorrows.

The late-night hours were proposed in the last days of the Conservative government and will be enacted unopposed in Parliament tomorrow by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer And Pub Association hailed the boost.

She said: ‘We expect an incredible eight million extra pints to be poured in our pubs during England’s semi-final against the Netherlands. This amounts to an amazing £40 million in additional trade for pubs and breweries.

‘And let’s not forget that England making it to the semi finals now means pubs will be licensed to stay open until 1am on Wednesday night, giving fans even more time to enjoy the game and support our pubs.

In Dortmund today, Netherlands supporters turned the city into a sea of orange with an estimated 70,000 crossing the border to cheer on their team and vastly outnumbering England fans.

Most do not have match tickets but made the journey to watch the game in one of the city’s two fan parks, causing one to put the ‘full house’ signs up seven hours before kick off.

No more supporters were being allowed into the Friedenplatz fan park from 2pm local time because it was already too full, Dortmund police said.

Thousands were jammed into the city centre, on trams on the city’s underground and outside their team’s hotel near the BVB Stadion.

Supporters were due to begin the ‘Oranje fan walk’ some five hours before kick off, walking several miles from the city to the stadium.

The walk has been made famous by social media video of fans hopping from one direction to the other in unison to the dance anthem ‘Links Rechts’ – which translates as ‘left, right’ – by Dutch artist Snollebollekes.

Traffic at entry points into Germany was backed up, the Dutch automobile association ANWB said, as German police carried out checks.

At 12.30pm, there was a traffic jam of about 13km on the A12 motorway which runs from The Hague to the border, causing a delay of about an hour, it added. Dortmund is less than 100km from the Dutch border.

The Netherlands team were due to fly back to their base at Wolfsburg after the match, irrespective of whether they win or lose, the Dutch FA said.

They had attempted to travel to Dortmund yesterday by train but plans were cancelled after the route was blocked. German television reported later that a train had struck an animal on the tracks causing delays.

The Dutch squad arrived at their Dortmund base some three hours later than planned yesterday evening.

One Ryanair flight into the German city this morning packed with England fans saw passengers belt out ‘Sweet Caroline’ – which has become a victory anthem in recent years for the national team – at the top of their voices.

Among those who arrived today was Olivia Elcock, 21, an admin assistant from Birmingham, who told how she and her boyfriend Dillon had paid £1800 for a pair of tickets – as soon as England had beaten Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Sunday

She said: ‘We have paid a lot of money, £900 each, but it will be worth every penny just to see England in this match that everybody really would love to be at.

‘I booked the tickets through a resale agency online and I know that means that we have paid far too much, but it is worth it believe me.

‘I just want to say that I was there, when we played, and hopefully we will win. I think it will go to penalties, but will win that way because we were so cool on Sunday night in the penalties.’

Her partner Dillon Babiy added: ‘ I have been to England matches abroad before. It’s always about the atmosphere and the fans as well as what happens on the pitch.

‘It’s just an amazing feeling to be drinking beer, singing songs and supporting your team.

‘We have spent a lot of money, but we are here and we’re really looking forward to tonight. I think we will win.’

A group of four men from Huntingdon flew into Germany overnight, arriving in Dortmund at breakfast time and unfurled a flag with pictures of Bukayo Saka and Jordan Pickford and the title: ‘Huntingdon Hotties’

Josh Furnell, 26, said: ‘ I know it’s a cliche but we really believe football is coming home this week.

‘England fans have waited 58 years since we won the World Cup in 1966 for the right to be called champions. We will do it and we will be England’s 12th man.’

Josh Williams, 26, said: ‘Each of us have paid about £500 for the whole trip. It is not a lot of money really when you take the importance of this game. If we win, we are in the final.’

Their friend Callum Barker, 32, added: ‘We left Cambridge at 3 am this morning, got a redeye flight overnight from Stansted Airport and have only just got here.

‘We have been up all night and haven’t slept. But the atmosphere is amazing. There are so many Dutch fans in Orange, we are clearly going to be outnumbered. But we will sing the loudest that we can for our team when we find the energy.’

England fanatics Andy and Kirsty, who are there for the match, said it would be ‘unbelievable’ if England went all the way.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Andy said: ‘It’s my 16th tournament and it’s a momentous tournament because they always are. We’ll see what happens, we’re feeling relatively positive. I’m feeling zen-like, we’re ready. 

‘If we win it that’s my retirement from international football as a fan. I feel like we could be on a winning streak of semi-finals after so many disappointments. 

‘We won the last semi-final against Denmark at Wembley (at Euro 2020), I feel like it’s an even chance tonight.’

Kirsty added: ‘[I’m feeling] semi-confident, I’ve got to say. I’m really hoping to see them coming out fighting tonight. It’s a big, strong, physical side we’re against in the Netherlands but I’m ever hopeful. 

‘Could you imagine if we won?! Unbelievable.’

Tanya, who has been in Germany to follow the team, told Good Morning Britain today that she believed football could be coming home. 

She said: ‘[I’ve been here] since the third group game. It’s been amazing, we’re having a fantastic time and the best is yet to come.’

Many of the travelling contingent have arrived in Dortmund over the last couple of days, with plenty basking in the glorious sunshine and warm temperatures yesterday.

Among those was the Fairbank family, made up of father Scott, mother Sam and their 13-year-old daughter Freya, who had been due to return home on Sunday but decided to extend their stay. 

Scott, 43, from Sheffield, said the decision to stay on for the ‘once in a lifetime’ match came at a price – two rooms for two nights in Dortmund has cost them £1,600.

‘They’ve ripped our eyes out with the price of those rooms’, he said. ‘And the accommodation is somewhat basic – but we fell in love with the whole experience around the Switzerland game’.

With a wry smile, Scott said the family drove out on Friday – having told Freya’s school that she had ‘German measles’.

But he added: ‘When we decided to stay out we had to phone up the school again on Monday and come clean.’

Sam, who turned 41 yesterday, added: ‘We came out earlier on for the group game against Slovenia. The match was disappointing but we had the best time in Cologne.

‘After Switzerland we were absolutely buzzing. We’ve loved our time in Germany, yet it’s somewhere we would’ve probably never thought to travel to if it wasn’t for the Euros.’

Brothers Denny and Ronnie Lovett from Dartford, Kent, also moved on to Dortmund from Dusseldorf, but saved cash by staying in an AirBnB outside the city for just £50 per night.

Denny, 22, an estate agent, added: ‘We’ve already booked accommodation in Berlin (for the final) – we’re confident. You’ve got to back the team. I like it out here and don’t want to go home, but I’ll have to have a conversation with the boss if we win against the Dutch.’

Back in England people have also been getting into the football spirit, with the Kings Guards seen playing Baddiel and Skinner’s ‘Three Lions’ outside Buckingham Palace this morning.

Tonight 28million viewers are expected to watch the game on ITV and ITVX streaming, beating the record for a match aired on a single channel. 

England’s Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark attracted 27.6million on the same channel. Finals are shown on both BBC and ITV.

The audience is expected to be so great that the National Grid is preparing for a surge in demand for electricity during half time as millions of people use the toilet and put on the kettle at the same time.

And for the pubs and breweries of Britain, the match will be one of the busiest days of the year, as 35million pints are expected to be downed by people watching the match – 17million of these will be drunk in bars and 18million at home.

Three million people are expected to watch the game in bars, making it the biggest midweek night for decades thanks to 1am England-wide late licenses which were not in place for the midweek semi-finals at Euro 2020 or World Cup 2018.

However, there will be no fan zone for fans to watch the game outside, with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan snubbed suggests of a 30,000-capacity location in Hyde Park.

A spokesperson for the Mayor said the Greater London Authority is ‘exploring the possibility of a screening for the final, should England progress.’

If the Three Lions do make it to the final on Sunday, Tesco will close its Express stores in England early to allow its staff to watch the game at home or in the pub, although online deliveries will continue as normal.

Managing director of UK stores Kevin Tindall said: ‘We will be cheering on the Three Lions tonight against the Netherlands and hope they reach a second successive Euros final.

‘We appreciate just how much this would mean to so many of our colleagues, and we want them to be able to celebrate with their family and friends.

‘So, if we make it through to the final, we will close our stores across England in time for them to get behind Gareth Southgate and the team, and we’ll all be hoping that football will be coming home.’

Some employers may feel the after-effects of an England victory tomorrow with 1.5million expected to call in sick, more than double the normal amount.

Those who have travelled over to Dortmund have been joined by 100,000 Dutch fans, many of whom have made the relatively short journey from their home nation to the west German city in a bid to turn the streets orange.

On the table next to the Lovett brothers, Dutch students Yan Doldersam, 25, and Lucas Kalverla, 23, drove 90 minutes from their home town of Emmen. They were enjoying a beer in the central square in Dortmund with countryman Goleos Sepanial, 43 who lives in the city.

Yan said: ‘We have had a similar tournament to England – the fans expected a lot more from our team than they have showed so far. I think tomorrow they will show it!’

In the border town of Aalten, many of its 27,000 residents have taken advantage of the close proximity of the matches and the lack of border restrictions to follow Ronald Koemen’s Dutch team throughout the tournament. 

Dutch restaurant manager Loes Oonk, who has decorated the front of her home with a giant Dutch flag with the lion emblem, will make the 60-minute journey over the border with seven friends for today’s match in a mini bus.

She said: ‘It is very easy for us to reach Dortmund, but not so easy for the English supporters. I think it will give our team an advantage to have so many people in orange shirts in the stadium to support them.

‘Maybe the English will have to work and will not be able to come in so many large numbers because of their jobs, but we will be able to come home the same evening from Germany.’

‘The match is the talk of Holland. We are also excited and really looking forward to it. Everyone is talking about it in this town too and getting their flags and orange shirts ready. Football is very important in the Netherlands, just like it is in England.’

Ahead of the match England boss Southgate said his team has the chance to make history tonight.  

He said: ‘We’ve listened to the challenges over the years and used them as motivation to break new ground. 

‘We’ve never been to a final outside our own shores. These are opportunities to make a difference and that’s how we have to look at it. We don’t want to be burdened by what’s happened before. 

‘We have got to use this opportunity to change history as a motivation, and that’s how the players see it. It’s about their moment now, nothing that’s gone on in the past. None of that is their fault or their concern.’ 

Amid criticism of England’s performances and Southgate’s tactics throughout the Euros, the manager insisted team spirit was stronger than ever. 

‘This group of players have really come together well over the last three or four weeks,’ he said. 

‘We’ve spoken about (playing with fear). When you sense that feeling, you need to confront it. It’s no use hoping it will go away.