World Cup Twitter is awash with GIFs and tons of photos of Russell Crowe thanks to a single hashtag and a close quarter-final match between Russia and Croatia.
When two teams square off against each other in soccer’s biggest tournament, you only see the first three letters or a three-letter abbreviation of the team in question on any given broadcast or list of trending topics.
So on Saturday (July 7), when Russia (RUS) and Croatia (CRO) took to the pitch with hopes of making it to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, that delivered a RUS – CRO match-up — and ample opportunities for jokes featuring the actor as the punchline.
Here’s a handful of Russell Crowe tweets inspired by the RUS – CRO game. (Crowe’s turn as Inspector Javert in Les Miserables is a clear fan favorite for this particular occasion.)
When a hashtag confuses you #RUSCRO pic.twitter.com/EdbCeo4nDa
— Christina Vlachou (@Christine_Vla) July 7, 2018
Anyone else see the #RUSCRO hashtag and think…….
no, just me then. pic.twitter.com/vHWvqIx7fm— Jon Hellings (@93jonners) July 7, 2018
#RUSCRO trending why what’s he done — pic.twitter.com/OEnIkZE1R5
— Richard (@1rickyboy) July 7, 2018
Every time i see the hashtag for this last quarter final all i can picture is #RUSCRO pic.twitter.com/NWwqjA63KS
— Chris Wood (@ChesnoidGaming) July 7, 2018
— The only #RUSCRO that matters… pic.twitter.com/VahU8rAcwY
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) July 7, 2018
I thought #RUSCRO was @russellcrowe’s J Lo name for a minute.
— M?se Allain (@MooseAllain) July 7, 2018
I wonder if Russell Crowe is seeing all these #RUSCRO tweets and is wondering why he’s trending again? pic.twitter.com/P8BQHeAEh1
— Carrie Rapaport Loves Soccer ??—- (@newt_ripley) July 7, 2018