It’s starting to become a bit of ritual for England at the 2026 World Cup – standing with their fans after a victory and singing Oasis classic Wonderwall.
The fans already have Three Lions and Sweet Caroline as their terrace anthems, but this tournament, they’re using the Britpop ballad to celebrate their successes instead.
But why is this happening now, and how did it start?
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A new song for a new generation of fans
It first happened after England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, with teams at the tournament asked to provide songs for certain moments in matches, including pre-match warm-up songs, goal music and post-match singalongs.
Wonderwall was one of their post-match choices and as it began playing over the stadium’s PA system in Dallas, Texas, the fans and players joined in with one another, and from there, the tradition seems to have been born.
Why it has struck such a chord with the fans and players is anyone’s guess.
However, there’s a certain poignancy to the lyrics that seems to fit the theme of the tournament, with the road England are currently walking towards the final a “winding” one, as they try and claim a first international trophy since 1966, while the long, hopeful “maybe” in the chorus speaks to the possibility that this could finally be England’s year.
And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to shout: “I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now” at Big Dan Burn after his heroics at the Azteca?
Either way, the phenomenon has grown so much that Liam Gallagher himself has (sort of) pledged that he will sing it on the pitch at the final, should England get there.
There was a 306% spike in Wonderwall’s streaming numbers in the UK immediately after the win against Mexico on Monday morning. Across the full 24-hour period, the song racked up 200,441 streams, which was an 18% overall daily increase.
Other England songs have benefited from this year’s tournament progress too, with Three Lions, Vindaloo, World in Motion and We’re on the Ball among several songs to have seen big spikes in their streaming numbers following England victories.
The new tradition is good news and bad news for Liam Gallagher and his brother, Noel, with it translating into more royalty checks for the band. However, Noel Gallagher has admitted in several interviews that he doesn’t support England.
“I’m not an England fan,” he told TalkSPORT. “When I was growing up it was all Liverpool and United players. I couldn’t get behind that.
“I love seeing John [Stones]. John is my mate, he’s coming towards the end, and his time at City is done. He’s coming towards the end of his career. It’s great to see him playing well. [Marc] Guehi looks solid as he always does.”
Sadly, however, it seems that fans are still almost completely ignoring Neil and Christine Hamilton’s 2006 attempt England are Jolly Dee. I can’t think why.
