The highest TV audience this century watched the final of Euro 2020 with viewing figures peaking at 30.95 million across both the BBC and ITV coverage.
It made England's defeat to Italy the most-watched football match since the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Germany.
After Euro 2016 and England's horror show at the hands of Iceland, to think that so many people would once again be invested in the fortunes of the national side would have been unthinkable.
As well as reaching the semi-final and final of major tournaments, surely Gareth Southgate's lasting legacy will be that the link between supporters and players has once again been restored.
On a wider level, the death of the international game has also been predicted on many occasions over the past 20 years but now consecutive tournaments, Russia 2018 and the delayed Euro 2020, have provided month-long jamborees of exciting matches and great individual performances that simply cannot be matched by the club game.