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Twitter erupts as England reaches World Cup semifinal

Knock knock. Who's there? It's football, and fans remain convinced it's coming home, as the Three Lions win again.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Could it be? Is football coming home? England fans remained in their delirious happy dream on Saturday as England beat Sweden 2-0, advancing to the country's first World Cup semifinal in 28 years. 

England hasn't won the World Cup since 1966, but hopes are high for this year's team, and social media was bubbling over with memes and jokes.

One popular tweet was fake. A tweet pretending to be from English defender Harry Maguire and dated 2016 declared what seemed to be a prescient hatred of Sweden due to what sounded like an IKEA project.  The tweet had Maguire saying, "Just spent four hours putting together a flat-pack fucking desk lamp. I will seek vengeance on the nation of Sweden, in this life or the next."

But as fans were quick to point out, Maguire's real account shows he didn't join Twitter until 2017. Still funny though.

But Maguire did tweet out his exuberance after the win, writing, "Wow... What a feeling! World Cup Semi Final. Bring it on."

And there were plenty of other celebratory tweets from fans. One fan shared a photo of England's manager leading the crowd in the "Three Lions" football anthem, with the caption, "Most impressive thing about Gareth Southgate? Managing a World Cup quarter-final in 25 degree heat and not a sweat patch in sight." (For non-Celsius users, 25 C is 77 degrees F.)

Even actor Hugh Grant chimed in, writing, "Have imprisoned Swedish wife and children until 6pm. Enemy aliens. #doingmybit."

Also, there's always room for one more Neymar joke, right?

The England team's official account couldn't help but tease its fans by asking about their Saturday night plans. Spoiler: There will be drinking. Wrote one fan, "Getting hammered to the point where I can't remember the win."

As always, not everyone was on the England bandwagon. Wrote one Twitter user, "Any country would have won PANAMA, TUNISIA , COLOMBIA AND SWEDEN. England do not deserve world cup, unfair opponents faced."

Stay tuned though: Russia and Croatia are battling to see who plays England next week.