Excited England fans gathered in Rome today ahead of the highly anticipated Euro 2020 quarter-finals clash with Ukraine as Italy warned Brits not to defy travel quarantine rules.
The Three Lions' victory over Germany on Tuesday set up the last-eight clash at the Stadio Olimpico, but supporters looking to fly to Italy from the UK cannot attend the match.
Delighted English expats in Italy landed tickets to the game after it was announced that only those who already in the country will be able to enter the stadium.
The Italian embassy in London wrote today: "Being exempt from quarantine in Italy for any legal reason will not translate into permission to enter the stadium.
"Fans based in the UK should therefore not travel to Italy to attend the match on Saturday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome."
UEFA has said 16,000 fans will be let into Saturday's game - 25% of its total capacity.
The fresh travel warning came after the English Football Association said it will not sell any tickets via the England Supporters Travel Club due to the restrictions.
The announcement has meant that delighted English people living in Italy have found it easy to get a seat.
Ex-pat fan Dawn Hughes is part of the extraordinary “army” which will cheer the team in Rome on Saturday night.
Dawn said: “It's finally going to be time for England to bring football home!”
Dawn, 59, a kindergarten teacher from Leasowe on The Wirral, Merseyside, has lived in Italy for 34 years.
And earlier this week she managed to get a ticket for her first ever international match.
“I'm so excited,” said Dawn, a Liverpool fan who watched the 1984 European Cup Final in Rome when the Reds beat Roma in a penalty shoot-out.
“It will be my first ever England game. I will be playing my part in cheering the team on as much as I can.
“I can't believe I got a ticket.”
Dawn works at an international school in the Italian capital and one of the parents got her a ticket.
She said: “I asked and asked and asked and eventually I got one. It's going to be amazing.
“I hope England supporters all over Rome will do what I did and get a ticket to help cheer on Gareth Southgate's men.
“It's going to be a special night.”
Italy has threatened fans from England with fines of up to 3,000 euros if they try to use loopholes in Covid-19 travel restrictions to sneak into the match.
In an bid to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus strain, Italy last month introduced a five-day quarantine for anyone arriving who had been in Britain in the past fortnight.
