Chelsea's X account makes blunder during England defeat to Japan

Jack Otway
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:25:45 +0000

Chelsea found themselves red-faced after a social media blunder during England's loss to Japan at Wembley on Tuesday evening.

The west London club posted an image of Cole Palmer's number seven shirt hanging in the dressing room at precisely the wrong moment.

The promotional tweet appeared at 8.10pm, roughly 25 minutes into the match and merely two minutes after the 23-year-old midfielder had given away possession leading directly to Japan's decisive goal.

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma capitalised on Palmer's error in midfield, launching a swift counter-attack that resulted in the only goal of the game against Thomas Tuchel's side.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

Palmer was dispossessed by Mitoma in the centre of the pitch as England struggled to break the deadlock.

The Brighton attacker immediately burst forward before playing in teammate Ayase Ueda, who advanced towards goal.

Ueda then picked out Mitoma arriving unmarked at the far post, where the Japanese winger converted a simple finish beyond Jordan Pickford.

The entire sequence from Palmer's loss of possession to the ball hitting the net took just seconds, with the Chelsea star's mistake punished in ruthless fashion.

Mitoma's strike proved to be the winner as England failed to find an equaliser for the remainder of the contest.

Supporters were quick to ridicule Chelsea's ill-timed post, with the tweet clearly having been scheduled in advance without consideration for events on the pitch.

LATEST SPORTS NEWS:

Wales fans boo 'God Save The King' in 'meaningless' Northern Ireland stalemate

Gerwyn Price withdraws from tournament at last minute days after blasting darts chiefs in furious rant

Thomas Tuchel reveals 'scary' concern for England after disappointing defeat to Japan

🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/JfdkgzYZQm
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 31, 2026

One fan responded: "Probably a bad time to post this."

Another sarcastically commented: "Good timing admin".

A third supporter questioned the club's social media team directly, writing: "This admin must be having conflicts with Cole Palmer cz what timing is this?"

The post featured Palmer's England jersey alongside a lion and St George's Cross emoji, intended as a simple show of support for their player representing his country.

Instead, it became an object of widespread mockery online.

Palmer had been selected in a reshuffled England frontline with captain Harry Kane unavailable due to injury.

The Chelsea forward lined up alongside Morgan Rogers and Phil Foden in an attacking unit operating without a recognised striker.

Anthony Gordon occupied the left flank, with both Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke absent having returned to Arsenal earlier in the week.

Palmer had enjoyed a more positive outing in England's previous fixture against Uruguay on Friday, coming off the bench to provide an assist for Ben White's goal from a late corner.

However, Tuchel's men were unable to hold on for victory in that match either.