In recent days a torrent of memes has appeared on Twitter, with football fans mocking the prospects of their football team at the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia. English football has suffered from a poor reputation for years, with the country stomaching a string of embarrassing losses to minor rivals and often being criticized for the way in which the team is managed. The team has even come to expect derision from its own supporters who have tried to cheerfully embrace their team's reputation for consistent failure.
Those trolling the players online reportedly extended to the pilot of the aircraft flying the team to the competition being hosted in Moscow and several other Russian cities, saying they would wait on the runway as they "won't be long."
A particularly brutal meme making the rounds on social media refers to a fictional visit by players to a Russian orphanage, with the children remarking on the "despair" in the eyes of the players.