England vs Sweden – Cheeky pranksters raid IKEA and leave ‘It’s Coming Home’ labels on furniture ahead of World Cup clash
The group from radio station Capital North West managed to infiltrate the store, even playing Three Lions as background music
FOOTBALL could well and truly be coming home today – to a home near you that is – after IKEA unwittingly jumped on the banter bus ahead of England’s clash with Sweden today.
Pranksters from radio station Capital North East managed to infiltrate the Gateshead branch of the flat pack giant – littering the stores with dozens of cheeky signs.
Signs selling 'Football Etskömmånhjöme' were scattered throughout the store, all priced at a memorable £19.66 – a reference to the last time England won the World Cup.
The signs also claimed that items were available in red or white.
They were left on sofas, cookers, lights and tables – and it looks like staff were none the wiser.
The cheeky vandals also managed to play England anthem “Three Lions” as the in-store background music.
Swedes have also been trolled with threats of burning IKEA furniture, threatening to throw ABBA CDs in the bin and even with declarations that meatballs are off the menu tonight.
Some Twitter users said a victory today would be considered payback for “all those missing screws and complicated instructions”, while others quipped that Harry Kane was the nation’s ‘Allen’ key to victory.
However, jokes aside – England haven’t had the best record when facing the Swedes.
England’s all-time record against the Scandinavian nation is nine wins, seven defeats and eight draws.
Both meetings at the World Cup, most recently in 2006, have ended level.
If England smashes Sweden out of the stadium today, it will be their best performance at a World Cup since 1990.
Football fever is sky high across the country today, with thousands of excited fans queueing up outside pubs hours ahead of kick-off.
Crowds decked out in England shirts are already making their way to bars as they prepare for the side’s biggest match in more than a decade.
Victory in Samara would be the Three Lions’ first World Cup semi-final in 28 years.
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This afternoon's match is being seen as England's best chance to win the tournament in a generation and has led to #footballscominghome tweets sweeping social media this week.
More than 30 million people are set to tune into watch the clash this afternoon.
England fans have also been spotted arriving in Russia's sixth largest city, posing for pictures while draped in St George's flags and chatting to fans of other nations.
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