They filled the Old Town in Dubrovnik and the Vieux Port in Marseille. They gathered beneath giant screens in London and packed out bars in Brussels. From early Tuesday morning until late Wednesday night, Belgium and France, England and Croatia came almost to a standstill, nervously anticipating the #WorldCup semifinals.
The @fifaworldcup’s impact stretches far beyond the borders of its host. For those countries that reach its latter stages, it becomes something that happens at home, a national fixation. On Tuesday night for France and Belgium and Wednesday for England and Croatia, whole cities ground to a halt.
Millions, at home and in public, were glued to TVs and giant screens. We sent 4 photographers out to capture the anticipation: @zoran_marinovic in #ðŸ‡ðŸ‡·, @kiehart in #🇫🇷, @andrew_testa in #England and @virginie_nguyen_hoang in #🇧🇪.
This is what New York Times wrote on their official Instagram account, impressed by the power of the people cheering in front of the St. Blaise Church, on Stradun, Croatia’s most famous street in the most famous Croatian town – Dubrovnik. We are so proud that we won’t add much more on this, beside one thing – join us tomorrow @ 5pm at the same place and cheer for Croatia, the winner of the Fifa 2018!
