Their success has had two important consequences. Enthusiasm for the game is soaring, as a sharp rise in viewing figures for the English Women’s Super League shows (see chart). That will bring more investment. Equally crucial, the Lionesses have inspired more girls to play.

This is evident in the playground. A survey of primary-school teachers has found that the number who see girls play at break every day rose from 22% in July last year to 32% this July. The number of primary schools with girls’ or mixed teams rose from 61% to 71%. Outside school, clubs have multiplied. When Maeve Fitzgerald, a 12-year-old midfielder in south London who is likened locally to Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, wanted to join a club five years ago her parents struggled to find one. Now she is a member of two and plays twice a week.

More women are becoming coaches, too. Ella Cahoon, 30, who has played since she was eight, volunteered for a club in south-east London after the Lionesses won the Euros. She reckons the biggest challenge, besides ensuring that girls have chances to join teams at every level, is encouraging them to keep at it beyond puberty. The fa says that at primary school 72% of girls play as much football as boys but that falls to 44% in secondary school. The government has introduced a kitemark-type scheme for schools that offer equal sporting chances to boys and girls.

Whereas boys from households of all incomes play football, among girls it appears to be more for middle-class families. That may reflect, in part, the cost and time required to get girls to practices and games that are more dispersed so involve more travel than those for boys. Bernie Butler, whose 12-year-old daughter Charlotte plays for a club in south London, says almost all her daughter’s team-mates are white and most are middle class.