The lucky England fans making it to Rome for Euro 2020 clash with Ukraine

England's quarter-final showdown against Ukraine will be the Three Lions' first game on foreign soil in Euro 2020.

Gareth Southgate's team has enjoyed raucous home support at Wembley, where all four of their games have been played so far, but it may feel very different when they take to the field in Rome on Saturday.

Italy’s Covid-19 restrictions mean that most England fans will struggle to get to the match, with people arriving from the UK required to isolate for five days.

However, for those living elsewhere in Europe, Rome is reachable.

Here are some of the lucky fans who will be in the stands

'My homesickness is part of the reason I'm going'

Having lived outside of the UK for five years, former Londoner Rebecca Sharkey said she felt “emotional” watching England on Tuesday from Italy, where she is spending the summer working.

The 37-year-old just happened to be going down to Rome for the weekend anyway when she discovered England’s next game will just be “a little wander” from where she is.

Ms Sharkey, a Liverpool fan who has been to a few football games before, never thought she’d be going to a European Championship game of this importance.

But tickets were available and she snapped one up for herself and her partner, Job, a Dutchman who she says will be an “honorary” England fan on Saturday.

“I’m here with a lot of Italian fans and we watch football together but they won’t watch games that don’t involve Italy, so I watched the Germany game by myself,” she told ITV News.

“I felt a bit emotional watching it and I wanted to be there. This (the quarter-final in Rome) will make me feel like I’m home.

“I’m looking forward to seeing other people from England in Rome, so I can finally speak English with English people. My homesickness is part of the reason why I’m going.”

Mum-of-one Ms Sharkey, who is also four-months pregnant, managed to find a babysitter to look after their baby for the night, for what she calls a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

“I do wonder how many English ex-pats will go down, I’m sure there will be plenty of us and it will be a real party atmosphere,” she said.

And she’s particularly happy to support this England side, which she feels are a “positive” group in what have been bleak times for the country.

“It’s been a difficult time in the UK for everyone. For me, my parents have only seen their grandchild twice,” she said.

“Given the UK have had such a difficult time with Brexit and Covid, the whole team really played together and positively.

“Normally there is such negativity around England but this year they feel together.”

'We'll have to make up for the fact the barmy army won’t be there'

Another fan who sees something special in Gareth Southgate’s side is Joel Phillips, who decided spontaneously that he will travel to Rome from his home in Germany.

Originally from Doncaster, he watched Tuesday’s game in a pub in Germany as the sole England fan – admitting it was “awkward” when he jumped up to celebrate their first goal – but looks forward to joining in with his fellow Three Lions fans on Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s always pretty jovial and people just have a bit of a laugh and back and forth with it, I think if you keep it in good spirits people tend to keep it the same way,” he told ITV News.

“It almost felt like a bit of an obligation to get there. I remember on Tuesday when the goal went in and seeing the scenes and people going crazy at Wembley… as soon as I read that England fans won’t be able to get there I was a little bugged out about that.

“Seeing how passionately this team was supported at Wembley the other night, I thought it was a bit of a shame it couldn’t happen so I did a bit of Googling to see if I can get there.”

While he still hasn’t arranged for a place to stay in Italy, he saw the tickets as too good an opportunity to spurn and is confident he can figure things out “on the way”.

England fans may be outnumbered for once in this tournament, but Mr Phillips believe the atmosphere will be as good as ever for Southgate’s team.

“I’m going to have to bring some extra noise to make up for the fact the barmy army won’t be there,” he said.

“We’re always going to make ourselves heard even if there are fewer of us.”

He added: “I can’t go to the semi-final or final, so I feel like now the guys (fans) did the job at Wembley and now it’s our turn to get behind the team and roar them on to the next round.”

'This will be worth it'

Student Jack Francis, 20, from Southampton, plans to travel to Rome from France, and secured his ticket on Twitter for £145.

“Hearing Brits coming from the UK would struggle to get into Italy, I knew there would be a chance that a lot of people would be trying to flog their tickets,” he told the PA news agency.

“(I) contacted a nice gent on Twitter, within five minutes I sent him the money and he transferred me the ticket.

“The guy just wanted to cover the ticket, travel and hotel cost which I think was totally acceptable."

The Southampton fan said he had planned to travel to nine games in five countries for the tournament, but had his ticket money refunded in April due to the pandemic.

“If all goes to plan, (this) would be worth replacing those nine games!” he said.