World Cup 2018: Russian bars run dry as fans celebrate England's last-minute win

Celebrating fans “drank the place dry” in Volgograd and partied on the streets of central London after Harry Kane’s last-gasp winner kept England’s World Cup dreams alive.

Crowds descended on Volgograd city centre to find bars to toast the 2-1 victory over Tunisia as they prepared for long train trips and early flights.

The supporters — and the team — have five days to recover before reconvening in Nizhny Novgorod, 600 miles north, for Sunday’s Group G clash with Panama.

A peak audience of 18.3 million tuned in to watch the game on television last night. A BBC spokeswoman said the average of 13.7 million made it the most watched show of the year, and the final figure, when the iPlayer audience is calculated, is likely to be more than 20 million. The royal wedding drew a peak audience of 16.7 million despite being shown live on the BBC and ITV.

At the five-star Hotel Volgograd bar, a few dozen fans kept partying until the early hours — when the beer on tap ran out. Neil McDonald, 38, said: “I think the fans have drank the place dry, they could only serve bottles of beer. I have a train to catch at 8am but I plan on celebrating tonight.”

Mr McDonald, a property developer who moved to Moscow from Devon, said: “I really enjoyed the game and I thought the stadium was really good, the atmosphere was great.

“I was shocked by how few England fans I’ve seen but the stadium did look fuller than I expected.”

In the 45,000-seater Volgograd Arena the official attendance was 41,064.

Zahid Ali, 28, from Canary Wharf, said: “It looked like England were going to do it again but Harry Kane, thank God for him.”

Tom Law, 29, and Clark Roberts, 30, both from Coventry, emerged from the Volgograd Arena singing “Harry Kane, he’s one of our own”. Mr Law said: “To get a last-minute winner, Harry Kane absolute legend. Getting the three points on the board, getting the World Cup under way. We’re going to win it.

“There have been so many first games where England have bottled it but finally to turn it around — brilliant.”

Chris Watkins, 53, who is from Leicester but now runs a travel firm in Volgograd, said: “We were bit flat at times but a win’s a win. I’ve lived here for five years, I’ve come down to see England play and it’s absolutely great.”

Football coach Richard Pearce, 34, from Solihull, said: “Everyone has been in good spirits and England fans have been mixing with Tunisians.

“It was a bit of a disappointing match and the most disappointing thing was the penalty decision but we got the three points and now I’m confident we’ll get to the quarter finals.” Malcolm Garlick, 35, from Suffolk and now running a Moscow-based au pair agency, said: “Fans are celebrating but the stadium is so far from the town centre some people have disappeared … but we’re all having a good time.”

Meanwhile in London, there were jubilant scenes across the capital as crowds spilled from pubs to celebrate England’s injury-time victory with an impromptu street party briefly blocking Charing Cross Road.

Expat Tunisia fans crowded around the TV to watch the match at Sidi Bou café in Ealing. The crowd erupted when Tunisia equalised with a penalty but there were cries of disappointment as Kane headed in his injury-time winner.

Monia Khan, who came to London from Tunis 30 years ago, said: “The World Cup is very special. This is the one occasion I become a football fan.”

Mounira Chaied, who spent much of the game wearing a fez, said: “We have been following the [Tunisian] radio and TV and what other people are posting on social media. I want to be in Russia, even though I’m not a football fan. Of course I’m disappointed, but whoever plays better wins.”

Among the crowd were four Londoners on a mission to watch the World Cup with fans of each 32 competing countries. Kevin Masters, 38, one of those taking part in Watching with the World, said: “At the moment we’re not really England fans, this is our Tunisia game. We will support England for the first time against Panama.”