It was one of the viral moments from England's 3-2 victory over Mexico. A glimpse inside the Three Lions' changing room showed manager Thomas Tuchel clapping along to the post-match tunes, before halting his celebrations in concern as Declan Rice flagged that defender John Stones had injured his shoulder. But Stones, who'd been holding his shoulder and flexing his arm in apparent discomfort, then started pumping his fist towards the ceiling as the drop kicked in — to cheers from his team-mates and the obvious relief of Tuchel. A bouncing Tuchel then pogos over to the 32-year-old to give him a hug, and a viral moment was born, clocking up more than 40m views on social media.
"It's feeling better now, it's feeling better — it has its ups and downs," joked Stones during an interview with England's in-house media. The prank came after midfielder Jordan Henderson suffered a freak injury as he fell while jumping over the advertising hoardings following the match. Stones added: "I tried to keep a straight face as I was doing it because I saw he [Tuchel] was concerned and thinking, 'has he actually hurt himself?'. Especially after what Hendo had just done outside, he didn't know what was going to come but it was good vibes in there. I didn't think it would get that much traction to be fair."
“John Stones pranks Thomas Tuchel after England win, but Tuchel fumes over Jarell Quansah's two-match ban.”
But behind those good vibes, a storm was brewing. Tuchel has been left furious at FIFA's decision to suspend Jarell Quansah for two World Cup matches. FIFA confirmed their sanction on Thursday, with the England boss swiftly asking the FA to make clear their anger at the decision made by FIFA's disciplinary committee. According to Sky Sports, Tuchel's anger stems from referee Alireza Faghan first being shown a still image of Quansah's studs on Jesus Gallardo's shin. His stance is that had he been shown a clip, he would have seen the defender get a touch on the ball before the contact.
The Three Lions are also unable to appeal the decision. FIFA officially confirmed the outcome in a statement on Thursday, which read: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed the following sanction on England’s national-team player Jarell Quansah… 2-match suspension for a breach of article 14 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The suspension will be served in the upcoming match(es) of the representative team of England in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and in accordance with art. 69 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.”
Quansah is therefore set to miss England's quarter-final against Norway and a potential semi-final against Switzerland or Argentina. Other reports claim that The FA made a strong representation to FIFA and claimed that the VAR process was followed incorrectly. Tuchel is also likely furious because of FIFA's decision to suspend Folarin Balogun's ban for 12 months. He was of the belief it was not a sending off but he did question the process that led to it being overturned. He said: "To be clear it was not a red card. VAR got involved. The decision is made. Who overturns this decision and when and on what grounds? It’s strange for me. We want consistency."
England play Norway in the quarter-finals in Miami on Saturday (22:00 BST). Stones, who came on with just over half an hour to play against Mexico after Quansah's red card, will be available. The mood may be lightened by his prank, but the shadow of a two-match ban hangs over Tuchel's squad.
