Whether or not you’re a football fan, there’s something about the World Cup to enjoy. For the most part, the football is of a much higher standard that the run-of-the-mill weekly matches. The underdogs are further under and more doggy, the national pride gets an airing (even if it doesn’t last for very long) and somehow the world becomes smaller as, wherever you go, everyone is talking about the same events, the same sportsmen, and watching the same replays.

For die-hard footie fans it is of course the pinnacle of viewing pleasure and for those equally die-hard football haters there’s the knowledge that it only happens once every four years so they can grit their teeth and wait for it to be over. It may not have been a vintage world cup this year, but it certainly got us all talking – and watching!