There will be a moment in the frenzy at the Estadio Azteca, probably as the teams take to the field or the first ball is kicked in anger, when Darren Thompson pinches himself to be witnessing all this first-hand.

After all, it is not long since the England and Leicester City supporter was lying in a hospital bed, drifting in and out of hallucinations, and being warned what would happen if he did not stop drinking.

The doctors did not beat around the bush. Quit or he would have six months to live.

He made the right choice that day and, with the help of his new partner, Lisa, he recovered and vowed to fulfil a lifelong ambition. Over the last three years, he has saved the £150 he used to spend every week on alcohol and put it towards realising his dream of attending a World Cup in person.

“Spain 1982 was the first World Cup I properly watched, sitting in my England shirt with my family,” Thompson, from from Hinckley in Leicestershire, tells The Athletic. “I just remember the atmosphere there on the television and seeing the crowds behind the goal and thinking to myself: ‘Wow, I want to go. I want to do that one day’.”

England line up for the national anthem before their game against hosts Spain at the Bernabeu in July 1982 (Allsport/Getty Images)

But work, starting a family and following Leicester up and down the country prevented him from fulfilling that World Cup dream. That and the drinking.

“I am embarrassed to say the volumes I was drinking,” he explains. “I was a functioning alcoholic but, when I got divorced during the season Leicester won the Premier League title (2015-16), I lived in a flat alone and just drank myself stupid every night.

“I ended up in hospital being told my liver was shutting down and I only had another six months. I knew I had to stop.”

Thompson, now 53, went through rehabilitation in Birmingham and things started to improve, although he admits each day is a challenge to stay away from drink. “I’ve completely turned my life around,” he says. “I’ve lost three stone (19kg) in weight.

“I have coached my youngest lad’s football team. I play over-50s football. I’ve done the Three Peaks Challenge (a charity challenge to climb the three tallest mountains in Great Britain — Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon). I’ve married Lisa — everything is better now.”

So, this summer, it was time to revisit that childhood dream to attend the World Cup in person.

Thompson has tickets for every potential England game all the way to the final, all secured at huge cost. Should England defeat the co-hosts Mexico in the last 16 and go on to reach the final, any fan who has attended all of their matches could end up paying as much as £10,000 for their tickets alone, even before the cost of travel and accommodation.

Thompson is paying for his trip with the money he would have spent on alcohol and has been saving for the last few years. Initially he was joined for the group stage games by Lisa and they turned the trip into a second honeymoon. But since England progressed out of the group and through the last 32, Thompson has carried on the adventure alone.

“It has been the trip of a lifetime and more,” he says. “It’s certainly been worth every penny. Visiting the Dallas and Atlanta stadiums was amazing, but my favourite moment has got to be Niagara Falls. The whole place has a great buzz about it. 

Mist rises from Niagara Falls (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

“We watched a game in the fanzone in the sun on a big screen and, if we looked to out left, there was Niagara Falls. 

“We have been to a baseball game, which was interesting with a 3ft dog. We have visited the house where Dallas was filmed, been to Graceland and Nashville, been whale watching, learned about the Salem witches up in Massachusetts, taken a tuk-tuk around Central Park, and watched the darts at Madison Square Garden. We’ve climbed the Empire State Building at sunset and darkness with New York lit up below us, and we have walked Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise.

“The football has been great, too.”

England face a tough route to the final. They will be huge underdogs to beat Mexico at altitude at the Azteca, and, even if they do emerge victorious, could face Brazil and then the holders Argentina before they can think about the final. Thankfully, Thompson’s tickets are refundable if the Three Lions bow out.

But for now, he is loving the life he very nearly lost. “My boyhood dream from 1982 has certainly come true.”