For English football fans, Wednesday (July 15) night was supposed to be the moment a 60-year-old curse was finally lifted. With England leading Argentina 1-0 in the 85th minute of the 2026 World Cup semifinal in Atlanta, the ‘Three Lions’ were just minutes away from a historic final.
Then Chelsea’s €121 million (£106.8m) midfielder Enzo Fernández ruined the party.
Fernández curled a stunning, long-range effort past Jordan Pickford to equalize, shifting the momentum before Lautaro Martínez struck in stoppage time to seal a devastating 2-1 comeback win for Argentina.
But while English hearts were breaking across the nation, Chelsea Football Club’s official social media admin made a fateful decision: they decided to celebrate. The resulting post severe backlash among their own fanbase, forcing the club into a humiliating, rapid deletion.
The Post That Set X on Fire
As the dust settled on England’s elimination, Chelsea’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted an image of Fernández celebrating his equalizer, captioned simply with his name and an explosion emoji.
The backlash from Chelsea’s own domestic supporters — as well as the wider English public — was immediate and ruthless. Many felt the post was incredibly tone-deaf, prioritizing individual player PR over the emotional state of the club’s core local fanbase.
“Seriously. We’re an English football club. Poor from my club. Poor,” wrote one disgruntled Chelsea supporter on the platform where it was posted.
“The absolute cheek of an English football club to tweet this. Grim,” commented another.
A third added: “Read the room, disgusting. Especially when that player would spit at us at any opportunity” — referencing past controversies surrounding Fernández’s commitment to the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Recognizing the escalating public relations disaster, Chelsea quietly pulled the post down within hours.
A Tale of Two Admins: How United Handled It Better
The controversy highlighted the incredibly delicate tightrope modern, multi-national Premier League clubs must walk during international tournaments. Fans pointed out that Chelsea could have easily avoided the drama had they looked at how their league rivals managed the exact same scenario.
| Club | The Approach | Fan Reaction |
Chelsea  | Exclusively celebrated Enzo Fernández’s equalizer against England without acknowledging the England players or the defeat. | Severe backlash; forced to delete the post within hours. |
Manchester United  | Congratulated Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez while sending specific commiserations to their own England internationals, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford. | Well-received; respected both the player’s triumph and the domestic fans’ grief. |
Adding Fuel to the Fire: Enzo’s “Wonderwall” Mockery
Making matters worse for Chelsea’s PR department, Fernández did not help lower the temperature.
In the hours after the match, the 25-year-old midfielder shared a photo on his Instagram story showing him posing alongside Argentina teammates Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes. The background music? Oasis’s Wonderwall — the song that had become the unofficial anthem for the England national team and their travelling fans throughout the 2026 tournament.
Though Fernández also removed the track from his story after it began circulating, the damage was done. The cheeky dig did little to endear him to English fans, who are now promising a highly hostile reception for the midfielder when the Premier League season kicks off next month.
For Chelsea, the incident serves as a stark reminder: in the battle of club versus country, local roots still run incredibly deep.
