Ed Sheeran, 35, showed up by the pool at the hotel where England are staying in Kansas City and pulled out his guitar. He played an acoustic version of “Castle on the Hill” for the entire squad.
The problem was the camera: it caught the faces of John Stones, Eberechi Eze and Ivan Toney looking so serious that they seemed to be serving a sentence, not enjoying a private show by a superstar.
Social media showed no mercy. Comparing the moment to a “Tuchel punishment” became the favorite joke of thousands of users, while the video went viral because of how little these footballers managed to hide their boredom.
Sheeran, who has been a close friend of captain Harry Kane since 2021 and who already predicted a final between England and France at this 2026 World Cup, took it all with humor.