A video of Argentina football captain Lionel Messi faking a foul during the 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Switzerland is going viral on social media as real footage.
BOOM found several visual inconsistencies in the clip, and an AI detection tool also flagged it as synthetic. The video was originally posted on TikTok with an AI label.
The viral clip surfaces amid a series of complaints by other teams over officiating decisions involving Argentina at the tournament. On June 20, the Algerian Football Federation filed a formal complaint with FIFA over an alleged foul by Messi that was not shown a red card. The Egyptian Football Association also filed a complaint over the improper use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system during a match against Argentina on July 8.
The Claim:
The 16-second video is being shared on social media with claims that Messi simulated a foul in the match between Argentina and Switzerland and was not given a yellow card by the referee. The clip is also being circulated as footage from a match between Argentina and Egypt.
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What We Found:
1) Visual Inconsistencies
At the five-second mark, Messi dives, and the ball suddenly disappears. His arms and legs bend at odd angles, and the crowd in the background remains still and blurry. The defender in the clip wears a red shirt, black shorts, and red socks, which do not match the official kit of either Switzerland or Egypt.
2) AI label in Original Post
We found the original video posted on July 7 by the TikTok handle @worldcup_az8 with an AI label. The handle frequently posts AI-generated videos of football players.
3) Results from AI Detection Tools
We ran the video through Hive Moderation and Deepfake Detector's AI detection tools and both flagged the video as AI-generated.
