Critics say it’ll take the England team skill, speed and a little bit of luck to get to the World Cup final once again.

But the key to success could lie with their wives and girlfriends (WAGs), according to a new study.

Scientists have discovered that pre-exercise sex can actually boost performance in high-class athletes.

Contrary to popular belief, they found that the athletes were able to exercise for longer and were even stronger following sexual activity.

According to the researchers, sex might act like a 'natural warm–up' for the nervous system.

While the England team are allowed to spend some time with their families, their manager Thomas Tuchel has banned overnight stays at the team hotel for partners.

By contrast, World Cup minnows Curacao's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has allowed his players to stay with their partners in their hotel in Florida.

'These findings suggest that pre–exercise sexual activity does not impair athletic capacity in trained men, challenging the long–standing myth of mandatory abstinence before competition,’ the researchers said.

From boxing to football, athletes across several sports are actively encouraged to avoid sex before competition, amid the belief that it will hinder their performance.

However, until now, there has been little research to confirm that this is the case.

In their study the researchers, from the University of Valladolid, analysed the performance of male athletes 30 minutes after masturbating and compared it to their performance after a week of abstinence.

They enlisted 21 male athletes aged 18–25 who compete at a high level in sports including basketball, long–distance running, and judo.

The athletes visited the lab on two occasions, one week apart. Thirty minutes before their first visit, the athletes were asked to masturbate. 

On the second visit, they were asked to abstain from all sexual activity for a full seven days.

They found that the athletes were able to exercise for longer and were stronger following sexual activity. 

'Masturbation 30 min before exercise elicited mild sympathetic and hormonal activation without detrimental effects on performance or muscle damage,' the team explained.

During their sessions, the athletes' grip strength was tested using a dynamometer, while their endurance was analysed through a test on a stationary bike.

In addition, they had bloods taken so the scientists could check their levels of testosterone and cortisol – two hormones that have been shown to boost performance in male athletes.

The results revealed that, following masturbation, the athletes were able to exercise 3.2 per cent longer, and had slightly higher grip strength.

They also saw small, short–lived spikes in heart rate, testosterone, and cortisol.

'Taken together, these findings suggest that a single post–orgasmic episode does not compromise subsequent exercise performance, nor does it increase physiological stress,' the researchers explained in their study.

'Rather, the data indicate a short–lived shift in neuroendocrine tone and autonomic balance consistent with sympathetic arousal followed by partial parasympathetic rebound.'

The research was published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.

This current set of WAGS are a far cry from the original ones twenty years ago who were synonymous with the 2006 tournament in Germany for their partying and shopping.

Back then there were £500 a night bar bills and £70,000 shopping sprees and it left pundit Rio Ferdinand famously fuming as he branded them a 'circus' while Gary Neville was 'f*****g fuming'.

Led by Sir David Beckham's wife Victoria, the group included Cheryl Tweedy, then Ashley Cole's wife, Peter Crouch's partner Abby Clancy and of course the late manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's partner fiery Italian lawyer Nancy Dell'Olio.

But this current generation are far more low key and are more likely to be seen posting fashion and make up tips as part of their social media influencer profiles.

Only half of the Three Lions families are in Miami - which is 1,400 miles away - with the rest planning to join once the group stages are over at the end of the month.