When Oliver Craxton stepped into Mexico’s Azteca Stadium on June 22, 1986, he was hit with the thunderous roar of the crowd. He noticed a sea of England shirts and throngs of Argentinians in blue. He couldn’t imagine he was actually there.
“It was a fantastic, party-like atmosphere,” Oliver tells NCS Travel right now.
The Azteca is one of the most well-known soccer stadiums in the world, towering 2,241 meters (7,352 ft) above sea degree and constructed in a bowl-style construction designed to supply an unimaginable, immersive expertise for followers.
That day in June, the Azteca was internet hosting a decisive soccer match: England versus Argentina, half of the quarterfinals of the 1986 FIFA males’s soccer World Cup.
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It was set to be a match to recollect. It turned out to be a sport that’s nonetheless talked about right now.
As for Oliver he’d always remember that day — however not solely as a result of of Diego Maradona’s controversial “Hand of God” objective, or as a result of England crashed out of the World Cup.
That day, Oliver met the love of his life, Sofia Larrinua.
“To be there in the Azteca during the ‘Hand of God’ match, although England lost, they lost but we met each other,” says Oliver.
Back in 1986, Oliver was a twenty-something dwelling in North London with a job at the native council. He spent his days working late, hanging out with associates, and looking for love.
“I hadn’t had much luck with girlfriends before … I’d sort of gone out with one or two girls for just a drink in the pub kind of thing, and that was it. I didn’t have a steady girlfriend,” remembers Oliver.
In lieu of courting, Oliver whiled away his evenings in the pub, having fun with the firm of the similar gang of associates he’d been hanging out with since elementary faculty.
“We’ve known each other since we’re about four years old, and we used to go out drinking regularly,” he says.
One night time, in the summer time of 1985, the associates had been sitting in a pub in London’s Islington district, debating England’s possibilities in the upcoming soccer World Cup.
England’s male soccer team had famously gained the event in 1966. Since then, repeating that success had felt like an uphill battle. Still, Oliver and his associates had been hopeful this might be England’s 12 months.
“We were sitting in a pub and we were saying, ‘Let’s go. We should go,’” Oliver remembers.
All of the associates had been eager in concept — they’d all grown up soccer-mad. Watching England in the World Cup can be unimaginable. But flying to Mexico wasn’t low cost or simple. It felt like a pipe dream.
But one of Oliver’s associates, Andy, gave the impression to be taking the dialog severely. His enthusiasm inspired Oliver to genuinely think about the thought, too.
At the finish of the night, the two clinked their pints collectively, promising one another they’d be there, in Mexico, in the summer time of 1986.
“We both made a commitment to it,” Oliver remembers. “We both agreed that it would be a holiday of a lifetime, and, of course, that’s what it turned out to be.”
The quest to get to Mexico wasn’t simple. The two associates couldn’t afford an entire month off work, in order that they gambled on England getting by means of to the second half of the event.
They had been rewarded as England entered the knockout phases. But someday, shortly earlier than their departure date, Oliver was driving residence from work and heard, through his automobile radio, a couple of journey company going bust.
Unfortunately, this was the firm he’d booked the flights and accommodations with.
“We managed to get another package, but it was more expensive, so I had to sell my car. I had a nice car which I had bought to try and attract girls, but I sold the car to pay for the extra increase,” says Oliver.
And in opposition to the odds, Oliver and Andy ended up in Mexico.
As the two associates explored Mexico City in the days main as much as the quarterfinal, it occurred to Oliver {that a} trip romance might be on the playing cards.
“Everybody was really friendly, and people were saying hello, and there was a real mix of people at the games — families, lots of women on their own or in groups,” he remembers. “I did think that there was a chance of meeting somebody, but obviously it was probably sort of wishful thinking.”
Oliver and Andy turned up early to the quarterfinal in opposition to Argentina. They didn’t sit in their allotted seats — nobody gave the impression to be paying a lot consideration to the quantity on their tickets. The two associates simply joined a gang of England followers already sitting in the stands.
They people-watched as the stadium stuffed up. Oliver observed three twenty-something girls stroll in — talking Spanish, however carrying England shirts.
They had been initially sitting far away from Oliver and Andy. But then Oliver watched as they obtained moved just a few instances, as folks with allotted tickets claimed their seats.
There had been a number of spare seats on Oliver and Andy’s row.
“I was thinking, ‘I think they’ll end up here. And sure enough, they did,’” he remembers.
Oliver thought all three girls had been fairly. They all smiled hiya, appeared pleasant and instantly expressed their pleasure and help for England.
“We started talking about football,” says Oliver.
One of the girls stated she cherished Manchester United — Oliver’s beloved membership.
The two of them began chatting about this English membership team, and the girl launched herself as Sofia. She was pleasant and smiley, with brown curly hair. Oliver was taken together with her straight away. He figured the soccer match might be a enjoyable bonding expertise.
But inside the Azteca Stadium, the temper was shifting. Argentina and England have a long-standing soccer rivalry. In 1986, this was exacerbated by political tensions. It was solely 4 years since the finish of the Falklands War and friction was excessive between the two nations who had fought it. This soccer match represented greater than sport.
“You could see fights breaking out, and they were burning England flags,” remembers Oliver. “There wasn’t any crowd separation, so there were a number of Argentinians in the same section as us, and they kind of came charging towards us. And I sort of stood up. I mean, I’m not particularly well-built or anything … but I thought I’d protect Sofia and her friends, and so I turned around, and the trouble died down.”
It felt extra like luck than anything that this threatening second didn’t quantity to something, however Sofia appeared grateful. And as the sport started, Oliver and Sofia bonded. They cheered, and gasped, commiserating and celebrating collectively. Something gave the impression to be charged between them. Something had begun.
Mexican twenty-something Sofia Larrinua had been counting down the days to the 1986 World Cup.
“At the time, I was finishing university, and I didn’t have a boyfriend or anything like that. I was happily single because I was very excited about the World Cup,” Sofia tells NCS Travel right now.
While Mexico’s nationwide soccer team had additionally progressed to the quarters, Sofia was extra enthusiastic about the England versus Argentina match.
The 12 months earlier than, Sofia and her associates had randomly met the England males’s soccer team. They had been sitting in the lobby of a Mexico City lodge, once they noticed star participant Gary Lineker and his teammates strolling towards them.
Sofia remembers pondering they had been “very handsome men.” She didn’t instantly acknowledge them as soccer stars.
“I saw those three lions on Gary Lineker’s shorts and I thought, ‘Nice thighs. What are those lions?’”
As the males approached, Sofia immediately recalled that the “Three Lions” had been the image of the England soccer team. She stopped them to say hiya, and Lineker and firm had been pleasant to Sofia and her associates.
“They signed autographs, and we became quite keen on them,” she remembers.
As a child, Sofia had additionally gone to see a British film known as “Melody” — a 1971 movie a couple of teenage first love. From then on, she’d been one thing of an Anglophile.
“It was just like an epiphany moment,” she says. “You go to the cinema as a young child and you see this film that you think is amazing, and then you come out as a different person thinking, ‘I want to go to England.’”
Continuing her love of England, Sofia grew to become a fan of Manchester United. And when her residence nation hosted the World Cup in 1986 she knew she needed to be there. She was desirous to go to some of England’s video games.
She cheered as England beat Paraguay on June 18, 1986. But she didn’t initially have tickets for the England versus Argentina quarterfinal.
“I didn’t want to go because I had an exam the following day,” she remembers.
But when the day of the match rolled round, Sofia’s associates inspired her to go alongside anyway. She determined, spontaneously, to hitch them.
“So we went together, me and two friends — me without a ticket,” she remembers. “I parked the car, and then I was looking for the resale, and somebody just approached me and said, “Would you like to buy my ticket?’ I said yes.”
Sofia and her associates ignored their seat reservations and ended up, at first, subsequent to some Argentinian followers. This was a mistake.
“At the time they were very angry because of the Falklands,” remembers Sofia. “I was a 21-year-old wearing an England T-shirt, and I felt very unsafe. So I wanted to move with my friends. The atmosphere was very raw, and quite dangerous.”
The trio noticed the spare seats subsequent to England-shirt-wearing Oliver and Andy, which appeared like a safer wager. But for some purpose she couldn’t clarify, Sofia initially hesitated.
“I looked up and I saw Ollie smiling, and I got quite nervous. I don’t know why, but I just had this feeling…” she remembers. “I decided that I was very self-conscious and so I was going to sit somewhere else.”
But Sofia and her associates obtained ejected from their chosen seats, in order that they ultimately ended up subsequent to Oliver and Andy in spite of everything.
Sofia felt drawn to Oliver straight away, however she was too nervous to say something. Then he talked about Manchester United — and she or he couldn’t assist however strike up dialog instantly.
Discovering their shared soccer affinity “was a massive plus,” she says.
As the ambiance in the stadium grew to become extra infected, Oliver turned to Sofia.
“The Argentine supporters were very angry,” she remembers. “And Ollie said, ‘Look, if there is any problem, I’ll protect you.’”
When he stood up in Sofia’s honor, she was struck by his bravery and kindness.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s really nice. So that caught my interest as well,’” she says.
As the sport started, Sofia felt excited to be sharing the second with Oliver — even when he was just about a stranger.
“I thought, ‘It just feels really, really nice to be next to this guy,’” she remembers. “It really is difficult to describe it. I just felt at home, that kind of thing, and I felt very comfortable.”
In the second half of the sport, Argentinian participant Diego Maradona scored the controversial ”Hand of God” objective, so known as as a result of he touched the ball with his left hand because it went into the web — one thing the referee failed to identify, however the participant freely admitted after the sport.
Watching in the stands, Sofia and Oliver couldn’t imagine their eyes
“We saw the ‘Hand of God’ happening,’” remembers Sofia. “Everybody saw the ‘Hand of God’ — except for the referee.”
Four minutes later, Maradona scored one other objective — this one undisputed. Gary Lineker obtained the rating as much as 2-1, however Argentina gained. England’s World Cup desires had been dashed.
The England followers had been devastated. But for Sofia and Oliver there was nonetheless one thing to rejoice.
“We spent the match obviously watching the match, and getting upset and excited and everything. But we were also chatting about various things,” remembers Sofia.
“We were obviously very upset we had lost the game,” says Oliver. “But very happy to have met these young women.”
As they began submitting out of the stadium, Sofia and her associates advised they need to go for dinner and present Oliver and Andy round Mexico City.
“Ollie pretended that they hadn’t seen anything — they had already seen quite a bit,” says Sofia. “But we just agreed that we were going to carry on having drinks later on, and watch the next match, and we were going to show them the city, so that was very nice.”
The group ended the night time with rooftop drinks at the bar in Oliver and Andy’s lodge, overlooking Mexico City. At the finish of the night, Sofia took Oliver’s cap and signed it.
“She wrote on this cap: ‘To a wonderful Englishman, Sofia, go England xxx’ So that was really nice,” says Oliver. “We had a nice drink in the hotel and my friend Andy fell head over heels in love with one of Sofia’s friends.”
Andy and Sofia’s buddy Cecilia had been flirting all night time, extra overtly than Sofia and Oliver. As quickly as they left the lodge bar, Andy and Cecilia began kissing on the road nook.
Oliver tried to point to Sofia that they need to do the similar, however she rolled her eyes.
“I went, ‘No way, I’m not having this,’” she remembers.
Sofia was in Oliver, however she didn’t need their first kiss to be on a road nook. He was embarrassed and apologetic. It was an ungainly finish to the night.
“I was a bit annoyed, actually,” says Sofia. “I thought, ‘I’ll never see this man again.’ But then he called me about three days later. He called and he said, ‘Can we go out and just go for a nice meal or something?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, okay. Let’s let’s do that.’”
When Sofia noticed Oliver once more, she nearly didn’t acknowledge him outdoors of his soccer fan apparel.
“His hair was done and he had different clothes and stuff,” she says. “I thought, ‘Oh, this guy … I really fancy this guy. I didn’t realize it was Ollie.’”
“We went out to this nice place, and then we went out a few times.”
The two double-dated with Andy and Cecilia. On one event, the 4 went to the Ballet Folklórico de México.
“We were all there together for the first half, and then in the interval, Andy and Cecilia sort of disappeared and were outside, just kissing for the whole of the second half,” remembers Oliver. “So, they were absolutely passionately in love from the word go. But Sofia and I were taking it more steadily.”
“He did kiss me eventually,” says Sofia. “It was very nice, and we sort of fell in love a bit. It was a bit of a holiday romance, but then they had to go, and they went back to England, and we were left behind.”
When Oliver and Sofia stated goodbye at the airport, Sofia spontaneously gave him her favourite bracelet as a parting present.
“A gold bracelet,” remembers Oliver. “I thought that was really sweet of her. And I hadn’t got anything to give to her, but I had a nice handkerchief in my pocket. So I kept her bracelet, and she kept the handkerchief.”
The two promised to remain in contact.
“I wanted to travel in Europe, and Ollie very kindly invited me,” remembers Sofia. “He stated, ‘My mum and dad have got a lovely house, and you can come and stay.’ And I assumed, ‘Yeah, definitely, I’m going to try this.
“I just saved and saved to pay for a ticket, and we agreed that we were going to meet. But before that, we were just writing to each other.”
Staying in contact throughout continents in 1986 wasn’t simple. There was no video calling, no textual content messages and no e-mail.
“Just letters and phone calls,” remembers Sofia. “We just wrote to each other, and it was very difficult because the letters used to take between six to eight weeks to arrive — if they arrived. A lot of them got lost on the post. And calls were very expensive.”
“We couldn’t phone each other every day, or even every week,” says Oliver. “We had to do once a month.”
“But we managed to just keep it going,” says Sofia.
She remembers someday when Oliver organized for flowers to be delivered to her home in Mexico.
“There was this massive bouquet of flowers, and, oh my God, that was just amazing. Little things that we take for granted now, that in those days were just amazing surprises. That was lovely.”
Sofia and Oliver remained dedicated as their associates Cecilia and Andy’s relationship fell aside.
“They kept up a torrid, passionate love affair for about three months,” says Sofia. “And then he wrote to her saying he couldn’t commit.”
But whereas Cecilia tried to maneuver on, Sofia nonetheless dreamed of her English soccer fan.
“All my friends used to say I was mad: ‘What are you doing? Just find a Mexican boy,’” she remembers. “But I wanted to meet Ollie again. So, we waited for a year. And then I went the following summer. I came to England in 1987.”
Seeing one another once more was every little thing Oliver and Sofia had hoped it might be. They had been each struck by the ease and luxury of being in one another’s presence, and Sofia simply slotted into Oliver’s London life.
“I met Ollie’s family, who are lovely people,” says Sofia. “And it was then that the romance flourished. We went away to the south coast, and we talked, and so we continued our relationship. But then it got deeper, much deeper, and we fell in love.”
“On holiday to the south coast, we sat there discussing our future,” remembers Oliver.
They talked about Sofia transferring to the UK someday, as soon as she completed her research in Mexico.
“I had a steady job, quite a secure job, and so I think all along we thought that if we ended up together, Sofia would come and live in the UK, rather than me going to live in Mexico,” says Oliver.
The two additionally talked about what they each wished from life. They mentioned their shared pursuits, introducing one another to favourite bands and planning future holidays.
“It was clear we had a lot in common — in terms of traveling, music, interest in arts and all that kind of thing,” says Oliver.
The couple additionally traveled to Manchester to observe their shared soccer team, Manchester United, play at Old Trafford.
“That was our first experience of seeing Man United together, it was fantastic,” says Oliver.
The two additionally visited England’s Lake District and the metropolis of Liverpool collectively, following in the footsteps of The Beatles. It was an incredible summer time.
“She was here for about two and a half months, and then went back to Mexico,” says Oliver. “We carried on the long distance phone calls and communication. Sofia came back to the UK again in 1988, and again stayed for about three or four months that time.”
While Sofia and Oliver had been more and more certain their future can be collectively, Sofia’s mother and father had reservations. When she instructed them she was planning to go to the UK for a 3rd consecutive summer time in 1989, her mother and father insisted Oliver ought to come to Mexico as a substitute.
“Because they hadn’t met me, they had their doubts about me,” says Oliver.
He understood why. But, unbeknownst to Sofia, Oliver had been planning to suggest that summer time of 1989. He’d mapped out the time and place at a North London magnificence spot.
“I was going to propose to Sofia on the top of Parliament Hill Fields on Hampstead Heath, where my father had proposed to my mother,” he says.
He thought the grassy spot, providing panoramic views, was good for a proposal. But he was additionally enthusiastic about visiting Mexico once more. And he wished to fulfill Sofia’s mother and father. Oliver instantly began researching different proposal spots round Mexico City, digging by means of books in his native library.
“I settled on a place called Teotihuacán, which is just outside Mexico City, a massive archeological site. It’s got the Pyramid of the Sun, and the Pyramid of the Moon. The Pyramid of the Sun is the biggest of the pyramids there. I thought, ‘Okay, that’s where I’ll propose to Sofia.’”
Oliver’s sister and her associate joined him for half of the Mexico journey. The group went to Teotihuacán, and Oliver needed to encourage Sofia to climb up the big construction.
“She was reluctant because it’s massive and it was hot,” remembers Oliver. “I kept having to say, ‘Come on, let’s carry on.’ Eventually, I managed to persuade her to get to the top because that’s where I wanted to propose to her. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, but she didn’t hear.”
“I said to Ollie, ‘Can you please repeat the question again?’” remembers Sofia. “And he repeated the question again, and I said yes, and it was a very happy moment.”
That night, Oliver, Sofia, his sister and her associate went out for a meal with Sofia’s mother and father.
“In a lovely traditional restaurant in Mexico City,” remembers Oliver. “I asked her father for permission to marry Sofia, and I think they were very happy.”
Sofia’s mother and father, it turned out, had been apprehensive about Oliver just because Sofia had met him at a soccer match.
“There was a thing about hooliganism in football in those days,” says Sofia. “Everybody thought any football supporter would be a hooligan — and my family was very worried that I’d met a violent person, basically. But then they met Ollie and they fell in love with Ollie.”
“We all got on well,” says Oliver, of Sofia’s household. He didn’t communicate a lot Spanish at the time, however Sofia’s father spoke English and helped translate for Sofia’s mom.
“We were able to communicate and clearly enjoyed each other’s company. And I think they seemed to be happy with me,” he says.
Sofia and Oliver celebrated their wedding ceremony thrice. They had been formally married in a small celebration at Camden Town Hall in north London in December 1989. They then had a Church of England blessing in June 1990 and a Catholic celebration 4 days later, gathering family and friends collectively. Sofia integrated Oliver’s identify into her personal, changing into Sofia Laurrinua-Craxton.
“Sofia was able to wear her wedding dress twice: once for the main wedding and once for the Catholic wedding,” remembers Oliver. “For the Catholic wedding, because the church was not that far from the house, she was walking along the streets of Hampstead wearing her wedding dress.”
“That was really nice actually,” says Sofia. “Really surreal.”
Sofia’s buddy Cecilia and Oliver’s buddy Andy additionally noticed one another once more at the wedding ceremony, however Cecilia was with another person by then.
“He was supportive, and I think a bit sad, on our wedding day,” says Sofia of Andy.
Sofia and Oliver had been grateful their family members had come collectively to rejoice with them. For Sofia, who’d simply graduated school in Mexico, the transfer to the UK and the wedding ceremony felt as if she was formally “starting her life.”
The newlyweds lived in a sprawling Hampstead home, together with Oliver’s uncle and cousin.
“It was very eccentric,” says Sofia.
But eccentric in a enjoyable method, she clarifies.
“All his family is very artistic, so I was sharing this house with these amazing artists and musicians,” she says. “It was really exciting for me to start sharing my life with Ollie in this amazing environment. Being young, married, going out to all these places with Ollie…”
“Back then, we were keen to go traveling together, do lots of things, go to concerts, gigs, all different types of music, and sure enough we did all that,” says Oliver.
It wasn’t at all times simple. Sofia missed her family and friends in Mexico.
“I am an only child, and it was very hard for my parents to let me go,” she says. “But my parents were very supportive. My mother used to say, ‘Just go for it, be free.’ She never said, ‘Oh my God, you left me, and you went to live so far away.’ Nothing, never. The opposite, actually. She would say, ‘I know you’re happy, and that makes me really, really happy.’”
Over the years, Sofia’s mother and father usually visited London.
“They developed this lovely relationship, Ollie and my mum,” says Sofia. “And my father, he was a person who didn’t speak much, but when he was dying he called Ollie and said he really loved him.”
Back in Mexico, Sofia had skilled as a meals scientist. In London, she began working in product growth for the Covent Garden Soup Company.
“Then I had a catering company promoting Mexican food,” she says. “I used to teach and broadcast and wrote a book on Mexican cooking in 2005.”
Sofia adopted up “The Mexican Mama’s Kitchen” with “The Tomato Book.”
She later created a neighborhood cookery faculty in North London. Meanwhile, Oliver continued working for the native council till he took early retirement.
The couple get pleasure from a friend-filled, busy life collectively in London.
“We’re very happy leading an active life together,” says Oliver.
In the years since Sofia and Oliver’s wedding ceremony, their associates Cecilia and Andy briefly reunited for a second time earlier than calling it quits once more. Even although that romance didn’t pan out, the couple stay shut with Andy. The couple have tons of associates in London.
“Ollie is the social secretary, so he always organizes lots of gigs and adventures and things, and we also have got an allotment, so we have a very busy social life, and we’re always going out,” says Sofia.
“We like going to places. We like going out to have breakfast in our favorite patisserie place and go to the pub and, obviously watch ‘Match of the Day’ or watch any football matches.”
The couple have cheered for the England males’s team at each important event since assembly at the World Cup in 1986.
“We have gone through the very painful way of them being just about to win and then they lose and everything is very upsetting,” says Sofia.
This 12 months, the fortieth anniversary of Sofia and Oliver assembly coincided with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, held this 12 months throughout North America — together with in Mexico.
“We got tickets,” says Sofia. “We went to Mexico to celebrate our 40th anniversary, and we wore our old T-shirts.”
“We both kept the t-shirts we were wearing 40 years ago during that England-Argentina match,” says Oliver. “Because it was such a fantastic match and we both loved each other and remembered the occasion.”
Sofia and Oliver additionally nonetheless treasure the handkerchief and gold bracelet from the day they parted at the airport. And Oliver has additionally held onto the England cap Sofia signed the day they met —he perched it on his head as quickly as they touched down in Mexico.
On June 22, 2026, marking 40 years to the day since they first met, the couple went to the Azteca and took pictures outdoors the stadium.
That’s when the duo had been noticed by a Mexican journalist José Luis Sibaja. He observed Sofia and Oliver’s classic t-shirts, struck up dialog and requested if he may interview the couple about their soccer love story for the Mexican sports news outlet Grada Norte.
“Then it became viral. We didn’t realize everybody started liking the story and sharing it and stuff, and we had millions of views on all kinds of social media,” says Sofia. “We attracted the attention of the national press and television in Mexico, and they invited us to an interview live in the Azteca Stadium.”
The subsequent factor they knew, Mexican TV community Televisa had been gifting Sofia and Oliver complimentary tickets for the England versus Mexico sport on July 5, 2026.
“We were in tears, it was a really lovely surprise,” says Oliver.
The couple additionally ended up on the official FIFA Instagram account.
“Every time we tell anybody a story, we go, ‘Oh my god, that’s amazing!’ But we’ve never had any coverage before,” says Sofia.
“It’s been all rather strange, but quite amazing,” says Oliver.
On their twentieth anniversary, a buddy of the couple mocked up a pretend Daily Express newspaper entrance web page about their story. Now, they’ve hit the headlines in actual life, with feedback pouring in celebrating their love story as exhibiting how soccer can convey folks collectively throughout continents.
Plus, over the years, the “Hand of God” match has solely turn into extra cemented in sports activities historical past. The proven fact that they met there, at what Sofia calls a “seminal match,” makes their story additional particular to soccer followers.
For Sofia and Oliver, being again at the Azteca Stadium collectively watching an England sport, 40 years later, was a surreal and particular second.
“It was just an incredible experience,” says Sofia. “All the feelings came back, all the memories came back. It was like it happened yesterday. So many things came back, and we are so lucky.”
“As Sofia said, it felt like yesterday, and all the visions and memories came back,” says Oliver.
“And then we had to suffer the game,” says Sofia, referring to the nail-biting match between England and Mexico.
She was firmly on England’s aspect.
“Having had the meeting with Gary Lineker and all of those guys in 1985, my allegiance is to England,” she says. “I’ve been here for so long. I’ve been here longer than I have been in Mexico. So, really, I support England and Manchester United.”
The July 5 match was tense, however England gained.
“It got better and better and better, and it was just so lucky,” says Sofia. “We watched another iconic match in the Azteca Stadium.”
“It was fantastic being back there again, and the Mexicans really know how to lay on a World Cup and a party — the atmosphere is amazing, and all the decorations, and people are so friendly,” says Oliver.
The couple returned residence to England forward of the repeated face down with Argentina on July 15 — this time, for a spot in the 2026 World Cup ultimate.
“I think it’s going to be a difficult battle, and I am praying that there won’t be any controversial penalties or ‘Hands of God’,” says Sofia. “I also think that England can win this. I really do.”
“I just hope we can get our revenge and get to the final,” says Oliver.
Whatever occurs, watching collectively will likely be one other “amazing moment” in Oliver and Sofia’s lives — one of many they’ve shared.
“The other day, Ollie turned round to me and he said, ‘Oh, we have had so many amazing moments,’” says Sofia. “I think that’s how we can sum it all up. We have just had so many amazing moments, and that’s just by taking chances.”
Today, when the couple look again on their assembly, Sofia says she’s struck by the “serendipity.”
“The thing I take from it is to live in the moment, and just grab chances as they come,” she says. “Take the opportunity, and keep going. We’ve been riding this amazing wave for 40 years.”