AT the risk of tempting providence, could it be... dare we dare to think... the England 2018 World Cup squad is going to join Geoff Hurst, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks and the others in the roll call of national sporting heroes?

After England's 6-1 drubbing of Panama at the weekend - including Harry Kane's hat-trick - the nation (apart, obviously, from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) is in the grip of World Cup fever.

Hopes are high; and our footie fans really are daring to hope that this could be the year. Even I have been swept up in the national enthusiasm for the championship.

I'm hooked, I tell you. I'm far from alone in this new-found enthusiasm for the beautiful game.

A friend reports that her mum popped in to see her the other day. Naturally, she offered her nearly 80-year-old mother a cup of tea, which she declined - as she wanted to get home for the start of the Japan v Colombia match.

While I don't recognise - nor have I ever heard of - any of our national players, even I can see that they are playing well; and (unlike England squads of years gone by) the players actually look as if they're proud to be playing for their country.

It goes without saying that if we do go all the way and win that elusive second World Cup title this year, it will inevitably be hailed as the Brexit World Cup.

An England victory would be seen as us taking back control; it would be the perfect signal to the rest of the world that we are major players on the global stage; that we're up for the challenge; and that we're determined to succeed.

And if we stuff Belgium en route to the final - well, could there be a more fitting Brexit analogy?

So there's a great deal indeed riding on tomorrow's big match between England and Belgium.

Always our biggest rival in It's A Knockout, Belgium is the team we really, really want to beat in this Brexit World Cup.

For Belgium, read Brussels, of course; and each goal scored by Harry Kane and his pals will be seen as one in the eye for Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier and the rest of the arrogant Eurocrats who seem hellbent on humiliating us over Brexit.

I'm stopping short of flying England flags outside my house or from my car but I will be rooting for our boys 99 per cent tomorrow, believe me.

The other one per cent, I'm reserving for Portugal, who I have drawn in the Mail office sweepstake.

I can't say I've been overly impressed with my team so far - a bloke called Ronaldo (biggest Adam's apple I've ever seen - looks like he's got a Toblerone triangle stuck sideways in his throat) missed a penalty the other night, for goodness' sake, so they clearly aren't fielding their best players.

But I've got the prospect of that £10 jackpot to look forward to, so I'm hoping they'll improve as the tournament goes on. In the meantime, come on, England tomorrow night - and let's show those Belgians what we're made of. And let's hope the England fans in the ground play the theme tune to The Great Escape with even more gusto than usual.