Husbands and boyfriends dragged to see Harry Styles play Wembley instead of watching England in the World Cup turn to ingenious ruses to keep up with the action

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:31, 19 June 2026 | Updated: 11:46, 19 June 2026 Most football-loving husbands and boyfriends will have been overjoyed to learn that their beloved other halves had got them tickets to a fixture at Wembley Stadium. But that delight will have turned to horror when they realised it was not football they were going to see but Harry Styles - and the fun night out was in fact one of the most brutal of fixture clashes. Because the star was performing at the same time as Harry Kane's brave boys were launching their World Cup campaign in style with a 4-2 win over Croatia.  Many made the best of it, trying to follow the action from Dallas on their phones while the former One Direction singer belted out his hits to an 80,000-strong sold-out audience. And now their plight has been exposed to the world with a series of TikTok videos and other social media posts by their amused better halves.   One clip, captioned 'when you're at Harry Styles but your boyfriend has other priorities', shows a man's arm holding up a phone with Harry Kane preparing to take a penalty kick. The device flies into the air the moment Kane scores and American Girls blares across the stadium. Elsewhere on X, a man in a Dua Lipa tour T-shirt and headset was filmed watching the match on a phone propped against a speaker, seemingly unmoved by the show going on around him.   And up in the stands another boyfriend, wearing a blue 'HS26' tie wrapped around his head, had a look of pure concentration as he stared down at his screen and watched the game. One boyfriend had a look of concentration on his face as he stared down at his phone and watched the game Another boyfriend watched Harry Kane score a penalty against Croatia as England sailed to a 4-2 victory over Croatia One other half also watched Harry Kane take a penalty kick against Croatia during the gig last night A man wearing a headset and Dua Lipa tour t-shirt watches the game on a phone propped on a speaker One TikTok user in the crowd summed up the concert's clash with England's first World Cup match as the 'crossover of the century'.  Reactions on social media to partners' prioritising the football over watching the concert with their better halves were mixed. Commenting on watching the football over Harry Styles, one user said: 'As both a Harry Styles fan and an England fan, the football would take my priority'. While a less forgiving user said: 'How dare you take him to Harry Styles when the football is on. That's grounds for a breakup.' Some viewers were simply taken aback by the fact partners were able to stream the game in an 80,000 strong crowd.  'How did he have such good signal to watch it, I never have good signal at concerts,' a bemused viewer said.  England's first victory in the group stage of the World Cup came against long-time rivals Croatia. And the timing of the concert was not going to stop die hard England fans from catching the game. The six goal bonanza was 2-2 at half time, thanks to two goals from Harry Kane. In the second half, Tuchel's side powered to victory with another two goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.  Harry Kane celebrates scoring a goal against Croatia at England's first World Cup match in Arlington, Texas A group of fans, pictured, celebrate England's win at a watch party in Wembley, London on June 17 The England squad celebrate the win and thank the fans for travelling to see them play in the US Styles updated the crowd on the score during the concert and even broke out an impromptu version of fan favourite Three Lions, singing 'it's coming home' as the audience shouted it back.  The musician was kicking off his record-breaking 12-night Wembley Stadium residency on June 12 to a sold-out crowd as part of his Together Together tour. His latest set of gigs broke the Wembley residency record of ten shows previously set by Coldplay in 2025. The One Direction star's residency is celebrating the release of his fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally. During all 12 London shows, Styles is joined by country icon Shania Twain. The London shows were not without their controversy - many fans were outraged when tickets went on sale in January with prices ranging from £72.95 to a whopping £725.45. Many took to X to condemn the eye-watering ticket prices with one user describing them as 'diabolical'. One frustrated fan said: 'The way I spent £140 per ticket for Love On Tour and the EXACT same seats are now £300+? What excuse is there for these overextortionate prices???' 'I love Harry but the prices for this tour are an actual abomination, taking the utter p**s out of regular people who just want to see his show,' scathed another angry user. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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