As France went to the polls on Sunday, I went to the football. Trudging towards the England-Slovakia game in Gelsenkirchen in Germany with my son Nat, I put Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump to the back of my mind and concentrated on Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Returning to Germany for a football tournament has brought back fond memories of going to the World Cup of 2006. That was a glorious summer and, in retrospect, a pretty glorious time in European and German history. The continent was largely peaceful and prosperous. War and political extremism seemed confined to history. The global financial crisis and the invasion of Ukraine lay in the future. 

Euro 2024 is taking place at a very different time and in a very different atmosphere. The largest war in Europe since 1945 is raging in Ukraine and the far right is resurgent across the continent. The ghosts of the past are returning to haunt Europe.