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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mark Jefferies

Robbie Williams fears his England team performance was a 'bad omen' for Three Lions

Robbie Williams serenaded England’s World Cup squad ... but he feared none of the young Lions would know who he was.

The Angels singer, 48, found it tough to perform for the group at their World Cup base at the Souq Al Wakra Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Of the 26-man squad, only seven were even born when Robbie scored his first number one with Take That’s Pray in 1993.

And Robbie reckons younger players like Phil Foden, 22, and 19-year-old Jude Bellingham wouldn’t have recognised him.

He said: "My whole gig is based on audience participation, so I’m only as good as you allow me to be.

Robbie Williams joked some of the younger England player would have to ask their nans about him (Getty Images)

"I’m singing but I’m looking at people going: 'Does Phil Foden even know who I am?' Then I look over and go: 'Jude Bellingham should ask his nan about me.' That’s what my head was doing."

Robbie was joined on stage by captain Harry Kane, 29, for a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way. But his version of England anthem Three Lions didn’t go down well.

He said: "I don’t know if it was a bad omen, or they don’t like the song, or it annoys them, but I just got this feeling in the air that it was the wrong song to be singing.

The singer performed a duet with Kane during the private gig in Qatar (Phil Harris)
Grealish had been hopeful he would get a chance to join the star on stage (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

" Jack Grealish was like, 'I was hoping you’d get me up to do She’s The One'."

Robbie was widely criticised for playing the Qatar Live concerts this month, due to the nation’s poor human rights record.

The singer responded: "I don’t condone any abuses of human rights anywhere. But if we’re not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, then it would be the shortest tour the world has ever known: I wouldn’t even be able to perform in my own kitchen."

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