Jude Bellingham scored twice in extra time to drag England past Norway 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal on July 11, sending his team to the semifinals. Within minutes of the Real Madrid midfielder’s brace, unofficial meme tokens loosely tied to his name and England’s run saw wild price swings across decentralized exchanges.
England, one of the most popular football teams on the planet, has zero official fan tokens. No Chiliz listing. No Socios partnership. Nothing regulated. And that vacuum is being filled by exactly the kind of speculative garbage that gives crypto a bad name.
The match that moved markets nobody asked for
Unlike Argentina, Brazil, and several other football powerhouses that have launched official fan tokens through platforms like Socios, England’s Football Association has stayed on the sidelines of the digital asset game. That decision has left a gap that unregulated token issuers are more than happy to exploit.
Norway’s national team is in the same boat, with no fan tokens, blockchain partnerships, or crypto sponsorship deals to speak of.
