Sport our common history

As I write I'm paying careful attention to the ongoing World Cup in football. This is mainly notable because it's only once in four years that teams from all over the world come together in a series of organised matches with mini-league and knockout rounds. I can measure my life by these events.

The first I remember was in 1986. Only one of the current England team was alive then (the oldest is nearly 33 years old, Ashley Young). I'm also paying attention as an Englishman whose team is in the semi-final stage (as I write, after beating the Swedes), which is the best outcome for the English national side since 1990. The current England captain (Harry Kane) was born three years later. Sport…