FIFA: After England defeat Sweden, delirious fans devastate IKEA's London-store
What's the story
An IKEA store in Stratford, London, faced the brunt of jubilant English fans on Saturday after England defeated Sweden in the FIFA World Cup to advance towards semifinals for the first time in nearly three decades. The fans entered the store of the Swedish furniture giant and threw items around. Their action was recorded on camera and was duly criticized.
What happened
On reaching store, fans break furniture, throw cushions
The fans stormed into the store and wreaked havoc. They jumped on the display bed, threw cushions, broke furniture and yelled at the top of their voices. The staff tried to contain the outrageous fans, some of whom had taken off their jerseys as well. After the video surfaced on social media, netizens thought celebrations were taken a bit far.
The trolling
Before match, English fans trolled IKEA through memes
In the run-up to the match, English fans went a little creative with IKEA jokes. Some people went into the Gateshead outlet of IKEA and changed the names of products on labels as well as their prices. Many fans threatened to burn IKEA furniture, while some said it was payback for all the complicated fittings that come along with their products.
Twitter Post
It's coming home, English fans say
⚽️ Come on boys! Make us proud! 🏴🦁🦁🦁 #fusionlifestyle #southend #ENGSWE pic.twitter.com/nwfxEQCtzF
— Southend Leisure (@Southend_Centre) July 7, 2018
The reactions
No wonder neutral fans don't support England: Netizens
After the video went viral, social media users came down heavily at the fans. Twitter user @steveOc7 wrote: "A group of #ENG 'fans' trashed an #IKEA store in Stratford after they beat #SWE. And they wonder why neutral fans don't support them." @cognacproperty posted: "The England fans trashing IKEA are bloody idiots & an embarrassing throwback to a dark period."
Twitter Post
Seriously, who does that? asks another Twitter user
Seriously, who goes into @IKEAUK and smashes up the place post winning a match? #ENG https://t.co/QsYptUeasc
— ScotlandYank (@ScotlandYank) July 7, 2018
Quote
Meanwhile, IKEA congratulates England in Swedish style
"We're aware of a small group of fans celebrating match result in one of our stores. Being both British and Swedish, we were on edge of our seats during the game and we'd like to say 'grattis!'" IKEA's tweet read. ('Grattis' is congratulations in Swedish)