Three Lions sets new record by topping UK singles chart for a fourth time

The best England can hope for in the World Cup is third place, but the national team’s unofficial theme tune has made it to No 1 – and set a new record in the process.

Comic duo David Baddiel and Frank Skinner‘s football song Three Lions has shot to the top of the UK singles chart for a fourth time.

The comedians’ collaboration with band The Lightning Seeds is now the first song in the charts’ 66-year history to have four spells at number one with the same line-up of artists.

The track previously topped the charts twice in 1996, the year it was originally released to coincide with the European Championships in England.

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It later spent three weeks at the top when it was re-released for the 1998 World Cup.

This week, Three Lions netted 80,000 combined sales this week to exceed its hat-trick.

According to the Official Charts Company this tally was made up of 43,000 sales, 6.8 million audio streams and 5.2 million video streams.

Awkward…

Joking about the unfortunate timing of their number one, Baddiel, 54, said: “Well, this is awkward.”

Skinner, 61, added: “I must say, as consolation prizes go…”

After counting down this week’s chart, BBC Radio 1 Official Chart host Scott Mills said: “England gave us everything at this World Cup.

“The whole country got swept away with it, and Thee Lions being the official number one shows how we really got behind our amazing team.”

Why is it a record?

Other songs such as Do They Know It’s Christmas? and Unchained Melody have reached number one four times before, but they were performed by different artists or groups on different occasions.

Three Lions, with its chorus of “Football’s coming home”, has been a anthem among England fans at every major tournament the team has competed in since its release.

Its revival has been sparked by England’s run at this year’s World Cup in Russia, which ended when they lost 2-1 to Croatia on Wednesday.

‘Knock me off’

Three Lions rose 23 places to bump last week’s chart-topper Shotgun by George Ezra down a place to number two.

England fan Ezra had urged fans to buy and stream Three Lions to knock his own song from the top of the charts.

Following a Facebook campaign to get punk band Green Day’s American Idiot back into the charts in time for US President Donald Trump’s UK visit, the song is at number 25.

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