{"id":16209,"date":"2026-07-08T21:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/16209\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T21:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T21:48:08","slug":"video-from-poland-misrepresented-as-ronaldo-fans-at-world-cup-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/16209\/","title":{"rendered":"Video from Poland misrepresented as Ronaldo fans at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online fans of Cristiano Ronaldo are claiming a series of videos show a massive crowd celebrating the superstar Portuguese footballer during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but the clips are misrepresented — and in some cases, dubbed with unrelated audio of a chorus singing the striker’s name. The original footage predates the global tournament and shows supporters of a Polish football club celebrating their team’s promotion in Krak\u00f3w.<\/p>\n

“FIFA loves Messi, but the world loves Ronaldo,” says a July 4, 2026 post<\/a> on Instagram, which shows a massive crowd jumping and chanting in a city square at night.<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Instagram taken July 8, 2026<\/p>\n

Similar posts claiming to show an homage to Ronaldo rocketed<\/a> across platforms such as Facebook and X, with some<\/a> of the videos also purporting to\u00a0 feature<\/a> audio of people singing<\/a> the Portugal national football team legend’s name. Others shared<\/a> a slightly different\u00a0 angle<\/a> of the same celebration.<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshot<\/p>\n

Screenshot from Facebook taken July 8, 2026<\/p>\n

The posts came in the leadup to Portugal’s loss to Spain in the last 16, a\u00a0 1-0 defeat<\/a> that marked the end of what the 41-year-old — who plays club football for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr FC — said would be his final World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the videos do not show gatherings related to the tournament.<\/p>\n

Reverse image searches<\/a> traced the first video to a Krak\u00f3w-based photographer who posted it as early as May 24 to\u00a0 Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, X<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>, with captions saying it showed fans of Wis\u0142a Krak\u00f3w celebrating the Polish football club’s promotion to the nation’s top league, Ekstraklasa (archived\u00a0 here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The photographer’s Instagram post was shared jointly with the team’s verified account, which also published other shots<\/a> of the crowd.<\/p>\n

The second video, of the same scene from another angle, originated with another Polish photographer who similarly described it on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> as showing Wis\u0142a Krak\u00f3w fans on May 24 (archived\u00a0 here<\/a> and here<\/a>). The photographer’s watermark is visible in some of the posts<\/a> misrepresenting the footage.<\/p>\n

The videos show the crowd singing, in Polish, a song affiliated with the club, an AFP journalist based in Poland confirmed.<\/p>\n

AFP also distributed photos<\/a> on May 24 that show the same crowd.<\/p>\n

Google Street View imagery<\/a> from Krak\u00f3w’s Main Square shows the same statue, basilica and church as in the videos, confirming the location (archived\u00a0 here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshots<\/p>\n

Screenshots from YouTube taken July 8, 2026, with elements outlined by AFP<\/p>\n

\"<span>Screenshots<\/p>\n

Screenshots from Google Street View taken July 8, 2026, with elements outlined by AFP<\/p>\n

AFP previously debunked other misinformation about Ronaldo’s 2026 World Cup campaign\u00a0 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n