'It blew up!' Three lions fans on World Cup outfits

There are fewer things more iconic in sport than the three lions which have adorned the jerseys of the English football team for more than 150 years.

If you've been watching England's games in the ongoing World Cup closely, then you'll have seen a trio of fans that have taken that as inspiration for their outfits.

Glenn, Eve and Howard Hawkins from Wallingford were all spotted on the global TV coverage of England's games against Croatia and Ghana dressed as lions.

Dad Glenn explained that he and his kids had first adopted the fancy dress for fixtures during the 2024 European Championships in Germany.

"There's three of us, so it made sense that we'd dress as the Three Lions on the England badge," son Howard said.

Fast forward two years, and as the trio celebrated an England goal in their opening group game of the 2026 World Cup against Croatia, Howard said: "It blew up."

TV cameras had focussed in on the Hawkins pride, showing them and their outfits to a global audience - including the family's local pub, The Dolphin.

"My phone decided to buzz off a hundred times, with people saying that they had spotted three lions celebrating behind the goal," Howard said.

"One was from one of my friends, who told me that the whole pub erupted when they saw me celebrating."

But it wasn't just around the world that the lions were being recognised, with Eve saying their fellow fans in the stadium were "going nuts for it".

"You couldn't walk five or ten metres without people wanting to have a photo," Howard said.

"We must have had 500-plus pictures with people in the stadium during the England vs Croatia game."

"This is the thing," Eve said. "We've got to stay together, because if we walk around as just one we look incredibly weird."