By the time you read this column, England will either be licking its wounds from a World Cup exit or still believing football is coming home, writes Clinton Rogers.
Either way, it seems this tournament has failed to capture public interest in the way it has in previous years.
It might just be me, but this World Cup feels...quieter.
Four years ago, you couldn't drive through a Somerset town or village without spotting a car sporting an England flag.
Pubs were packed hours before kick-off, and children turned up at school bleary-eyed after persuading their parents to let them stay up for "just one more half."
This summer - where are the flags?
I’ve spotted a few, but not many.
There are fewer conversations in supermarket queues and precious little evidence that the nation has been swept away by football fever.
Or am I wrong?
Geography has a lot to do with it.
A World Cup spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico was always going to present a challenge for British audiences.
While some fixtures have fallen at sociable evening times, many of the biggest knockout matches arrive when sensible people are thinking about bed rather than penalty shoot-outs.
England's last-16 tie against Mexico, for example, kicked off at 1am BST, prompting even manager Thomas Tuchel to lament before the game that children simply won't be able to watch live.
And that feels important.
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Every generation remembers staying up for those magical nights.
They are the moments that create lifelong supporters.
If youngsters have to catch the highlights over breakfast instead, something of the shared experience disappears.
We've seen this story before.
Ask anyone of a certain age about the England cricket team, and they'll recall Botham, Gower, and Gatting without hesitation.
Test matches were part of the national conversation because they were on the BBC for everyone to watch.
When live England cricket disappeared behind Sky's subscription wall in 2005, something changed.
Participation didn't vanish overnight, but casual interest certainly faded.
Millions who had once stumbled across a day's play on BBC Two simply stopped watching.
A generation grew up recognising Premier League footballers more readily than England's opening batters.
Football is in a different position because the World Cup remains free-to-air, but accessibility isn't only about subscription fees.
Timing matters too.
If half the country is asleep when the action unfolds, the tournament inevitably loses some of its grip on the national imagination.
Perhaps, if England reach the semi-finals, the flags will suddenly reappear, and the excitement will build once more.
Let's hope so because a World Cup without streets dressed in the flag of St George and children dreaming of scoring the winning goal somehow doesn't feel quite like a World Cup at all.
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