It very nearly became one of those perfect stories. “It’s Coming Home” was ringing in fans’ ears, and Liam Gallagher had promised to perform “Wonderwall” live if the Three Lions reached the final. There were already plenty of musical acts lined up for the showpiece, but the image of Gallagher swept up in the celebrations would have been too good to resist. Instead, Lionel Messi and his Argentine side halted England in the semi-final, dashing the hopes of countless fans, and apparently Mick Jagger along with them. As the World Cup broadcast made clear, the Rolling Stones frontman was far from pleased with how the match had unfolded. While Jagger sulked at the camera, Gallagher did what a Gallagher does and took to social media.
Gallagher’s posts on the defeat
Just days earlier, Gallagher had been brimming with confidence, insisting England would find a way to win the tournament and offering respect to the players and the manager. That optimism was easy to understand at the time, with his song racking up record-breaking streams and the England squad singing it arm in arm after every victory. With hopes riding on a German manager and talk of a new Oasis tour in the air, the national mood was buoyant.
That night, though, a more resigned Gallagher emerged. He offered respect to the team, acknowledged that no one has a God-given right to win the World Cup, and congratulated Argentina as deserving winners before turning his focus to the future. It was an unusually gracious tone from a man who has famously branded Phil Collins the antichrist of music. The conciliatory mood didn’t last long. Two hours later he had settled on an explanation for the loss, arguing that England won’t lift the trophy until the team, and its managers, learn some street smarts. In his view the game had become too technical, and the players should be allowed more freedom. One suspects he could make a memorable, if not necessarily successful, England manager himself.
Jagger’s crestfallen reaction
England’s celebrity contingent looked equally deflated. When the cameras found Mick Jagger, he wore the expression of a disappointed father, lips pressed inward as if to say he was more let down than angry. Jagger was also busy promoting his own work, sporting a cap reading “langues étrangères,” the French rendering of the title of the new Rolling Stones album, “Foreign Tongues.”
Thomas Tuchel, holding a hard-fought 1-0 lead, came agonizingly close to steering England into the final before the side ultimately fell 2-1. And so, in the end, Messi denied the country its “Wonderwall,” and there was decidedly no “Satisfaction” for Mick Jagger.
