England superfan Andy Milne has made incredible sacrifice to make this summer's World Cup

England's viral superfan Andy Milne did everything that he could to make sure he was there for the 2026 World Cup campaign.

On Wednesday evening, England begin their 2026 World Cup campaign as they travel to the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas for their opening fixture against Croatia.

It has been reported that 89,000 World Cup tickets have been purchased by fans from England, with between 12,000 and 15,000 England fans expected at each group stage game.

There's no doubt that among those fans will be England's own superfan, Milne, who rose to fame during a broadcast of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Following his rise in popularity during the 2022 World Cup, England fans went back through the archives and realised that Milne could be seen celebrating England's successes at a number of recent tournaments.

Therefore, the 63-year-old had to make sure he was in North America for the 2026 World Cup, and he was prepared to do everything he needed to do so.

And that included selling his house to fund the trip to cheer on the Three Lions at the World Cup this summer.

Milne, a retired teacher who lives in Thailand, claims that he put his second home in Northwich, Cheshire, valued at £350,000, on the market to ensure he could make it to support England.

"It is going on the market because I'm selling it to go to the World Cup," Milne told the Mirror,

"The last tournament in Qatar was a present to myself, I had been saving for years. We have had a second home for 27 years so it felt like the right time to cash in."

However, in the end Milne received a generous offer from the Hilton hotel chain that means that the accommodation for him and his best mate was paid for across both of England's friendlies in Florida and the entire 39-day World Cup tournament, saving him an estimated £35,000.

Who is England superfan Andy Milne?

Milne has been supporting England throughout his entire life, attending nine World Cups in total, including eight following the men's side and one following the women.

His first World Cup was in Spain in 1982, where England were strangely eliminated in the second group stage despite not losing a single match.

When asked why he was so popular with fans, Milne told The Sun: “I think it’s because my face keeps appearing on the telly.

“I’ve been to a lot of tournaments, I’ve been to eight World Cups and the Women’s World Cup as well."

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Milne also added that he had been to nine iterations of the European Football Championship, or the Euros.

“I’ve seen no trouble, I’ve had a fantastic time, here in Frankfurt it’s glorious and the atmosphere in the fan park is unbelievable," he said.