England had such high hopes. The Three Lions football anthem was everywhere on social media, as fans dreamed of their country’s first World Cup championship since 1966, tweaking the song’s lyric “it’s coming home” into countless memes.
And then, on Wednesday, Croatia came from behind to beat England 2-1 in extra time. Croatia is now headed to its first-ever World Cup final against France on Sunday. It might be coming home, but only if football’s home is Paris or Zagreb.
For Croatia, it was a Cinderella story. One tweet from ITV Sports shared a quote from Croatia captain Luka Modric, who said, “English journalists, pundits from television, they underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying ‘ok, today we will see who will be tired.'”
Strong words from Luka Modric post-match:
“English journalists, pundits from television, they underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying ‘ok, today we will see who will be tired'” pic.twitter.com/Rxyv4WA03c
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 11, 2018
Croatian firefighters trying to watch the end of their team’s match against Russia in the World Cup quarterfinals before a call came in
Croatia won seconds later pic.twitter.com/6gFzKcXRv9
— William DuPont (@WilliamDuPontJ5) July 11, 2018
Before you start calling me a bandwagon fan, I’ve been a fan of (checks score) CROATIA my entire life. I love (quickly skimming Wikipedia) PRESIDENT KOLINDA GRABAR-KITAROVIĆ
— Tyler Schmall (@tylerschmall) July 11, 2018
Before things went wrong, England fans had fun with an early goal that made them spill a whole lot of beer all over Hyde Park.
But after the game, the “it’s coming home” memes took a sad, depressing turn.
“Never was, never will,” wrote one Twitter user.
Wrote another, “Football has grown as a person. Football is happy visiting new places and meeting new people. Please stop insisting.#ItsNotComingHome“
Even the official Twitter account of Australia’s Queensland Police Service couldn’t resist mangling the now-sad meme, writing, “The tears of England fans have led to tricky driving conditions this morning. It’s not coming home so drive safely so you can.”
Football has grown as a person. Football is happy visiting new places and meeting new people.
Please stop insisting.#ItsNotComingHome— Barça News and Negativity (@cynicule) July 11, 2018
The tears of England fans have led to tricky driving conditions this morning.
It’s not coming home so drive safely so you can #CroEng
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) July 11, 2018
Sorry everyone, football is not coming home. We’ve stopped it at the border and explained how our hostile environment means it has to provide 3 forms of proof that this was ever home.
— Theresa Maybe (@Theresa__Maybe) July 11, 2018
Things that didn’t exist the last time England reached semi-final:
1) iPhone
2) Twitter
3) Croatia— Ricardo Soca (@rrsoca) July 11, 2018
It’s coming home
It’s coming hom
It’s coming ho
It’s coming h
It’s coming
It’s comin
It’s comi
It’s com
It’s cr
It’s cro
It’s croa
It’s croat
It’s croati
It’s Croatia
It’s #Cro sending #Eng home
😂😂😂#WorldCup #CROENG #Itsnotcominghome— Yash Thaker (@thakeryash9) July 11, 2018
Imagine acting like you were going to win the WC for the last three weekz, only to lose against the first decent team you play. Tragic #ItsNotComingHome
— Fiddy (@Fiddy0157) July 11, 2018
Hopefully the only thing the English are coming home with is a cheap bottle of Russian vodka and the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment for this whole “it’s coming home” shite. #EnglandvCroatia #Itsnotcominghome 🏴
— Lindsay Gilfillan (@Lindsay_Gx) July 11, 2018
But English fans still stuck around the Moscow stadium long after the loss, serenading their team’s manager, Gareth Southgate. Wrote one fan, “I’m sat here watching 1000s of England fans applauding the squad and singing ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ with all they have. Thankfully we are looking forward with hope. Gareth Southgate and his team have helped many fall back in love with the beautiful game. Onwards & upwards.”
Southgate comes out to say hi to the fans who have been singing for a half hour. Croatia fans have long since gone home: “Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on, football’s coming home again.” pic.twitter.com/Z89D9pkKwV
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) July 11, 2018
I’m sat here watching 1000s of England fans applauding the squad and singing ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ with all they have. Thankfully we are looking forward with hope. Gareth Southgate and his team have helped many fall back in love with the beautiful game. Onwards & upwards.
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) July 11, 2018
Croatia takes on France for the World Cup on Sunday in Moscow, while England and host country Russia play Saturday for third place. Maybe football will think about coming home in 2022.