Peter Crouch's Robot Dance — 2006

Peter Crouch's robot dance after scoring his first England goal against Jamaica in a 2006 friendly became the most shared football image of the pre-social-media era, a 6ft 7in striker doing the robot globally. He performed it again at the 2006 World Cup, making headlines across 30 countries. The celebration is 40% lighter than the typical trademark gesture in viral reach, with clips still accumulating 8 million views on YouTube. Its self-aware absurdism captured English football's relationship with its own ridiculousness, directly inspiring a celebration in FIFA 07 and cementing Crouch as a cult figure even among non-fans.