ENGLAND’S World Cup travelling schedule has been the most brutal of any team at the tournament so far.
The Three Lions have reached the semi-final stage after a gruelling 2-1 win over Erling Haaland‘s Norway in Miami.
That followed a hard-fought 3-2 victory against co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca.
Their first knockout game was against DR Congo in Atlanta – and they’ll now fly back there to face Lionel Messi‘s Argentina in the semis.
Their exhausting journey at the World Cup, which began with a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas, has seen them travel more than 14,000 MILES so far.
England have based themselves in Kansas City, the same as their upcoming opponents Argentina.
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But Lionel Messi’s side have travelled just under 6,000 miles in a much more forgiving travel schedule.
France have also had good luck, travelling less than 2,000 miles after staying mostly on the east coast for their tournament.
That means Les Bleus have the lowest travel total of the whole tournament – even less than several teams who went out in the groups after playing just three matches.
Belgium – who have now exited the tournament – only covered 4,000 miles during their time in the competition.
Norway, meanwhile, clocked in less than 8,000 miles before going out to England.
England have travelled the most of any team at the World Cup, but fellow semi-finalists Spain are not far behind them.
The reigning European champions have travelled more than 12,000 miles so far.
Playing this World Cup across three countries – with 16 host cities – and featuring 48 teams for the first time has meant covering long distances was inevitable.
England’s eye-opening air miles are not just big numbers for the tournament, they are the most of any team at any World Cup since 2010.
Costa Rica flew more than 10,000 miles at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, while Croatia travelled over 8,000 miles at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Players were much better off at the last World Cup in Qatar, which was played across a 43-mile radius.
It’s not known what kind of impact intense travelling has – though Norway boss Stale Solbakken said there had been “coughing and rasping” caused by “air conditioning, flights and changing rooms”.
