The host nations go-to chant rings throughout the streets from Sochi to Saint Petersburg relentlessly day after day. The locals have gone from plucky outsiders to a legitimate World Cup chance in next to no time – at least in their own eyes.

In a Cup littered with surprises, who could blame them for holding such high hopes.

We see it all unfold from the capital. A mate’s lost wallet gifted to the streets Sochi (Russia’s very own Surfers Paradise) keeps us in Moscow longer than planned.

Who needs money when you’re 14,500km from home?

It’s a blessing in disguise, for the rest of us at least.

With tickets too hard to claim, we head to a nearby bar to lap up the atmosphere of the big occasion.

The wallet is soon forgotten (again), but the night will live long in the memory.

Against the odds they send Spain to the same exit door fellow heavyweights Germany, Portugal and Argentina took just days earlier.

The Russians couldn’t care less as the world’s biggest street party ensues.

Tens of thousands covered in red, white and blue cover any spare piece of pavement they can find.

A familiar chant echoes across the city as drums and horns sound deep into the night.

Even cop cars are shamelessly getting in on the action.

While Russians are normally ultra concerned about how they’re viewed around the world, this night they have no such worries.

The night is theirs.

Mine too. I’ve happily jumped on the band wagon after a disappointingly premature end to the Australian campaign.

An unconvincing Croatian outfit awaits in the final eight for our boys.

From then on it really is anyone’s guess who will claim one of the most wide open and surprising World Cups in recent memory. Optimistic Russians will tell you it’s their time, but the English are certain it’s coming home with them after landing on the easy side of the draw. The Poms aren’t here in big numbers.

The scars of a violent and wild Euro 2016 crusade through French alley ways have kept the majority of them watching from afar. A few late plane tickets could be secured should they wind up on another war path with the Russians in the semi finals. Both sides might lack the firepower.

With big guns Brazil, France, Uruguay and Belgium (who played on Saturday morning AEST) all waiting on the other side of the draw, it’s difficult to see either nation lifting the cup.

Still, in a month of surprises, it would be foolish to rule anything out from here.