One of the night’s biggest viral clips came from England’s 3-2 win over Mexico.
Inside the dressing room, manager Thomas Tuchel was clapping along to the music until Declan Rice pointed out that John Stones seemed to be nursing a shoulder problem. Tuchel’s celebration stalled—briefly.
Stones, who had been holding his shoulder and moving his arm as if in pain, suddenly threw his fist into the air right as the beat dropped, drawing cheers from teammates and visible relief from Tuchel.
Tuchel then bounced over to embrace the 32-year-old, and the clip exploded online, topping 40 million views.
Speaking to England’s in-house media, Stones joked that the shoulder “has its ups and downs,” and said he tried to keep a straight face to sell the prank—especially with Jordan Henderson having just picked up a freak knock after jumping the advertising boards post-match. He added he hadn’t expected the moment to blow up the way it did.
Stones started the 4-2 opener against Croatia, made a late cameo in the 2-1 win over DR Congo, and entered with a little over half an hour left against Mexico after Bukayo Saka was withdrawn following Jarell Quansah’s red card.
England face Norway in the quarter-finals in Miami on Saturday at 22:00 BST.