The FIFA warned this Wednesday about a sharp increase in racist and insulting comments on social networks during the World Cup 2026. According to the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), more than six million posts and comments were analyzed during the group phase, identifying 89,000 offensive messages, of which 11% contained racist content.
The organization reported that it hid 181,000 abusive comments and opened investigations against nearly a thousand users. In addition, he noted that racist attacks constitute the largest category among the offensive messages detected and warned that this type of behavior represents a persistent threat to the well-being of players.
FIFA specified that, after 72 of the 104 matches of the tournament had been played, 13 times more insulting publications had already been registered than in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, although the current edition has 48 teams, compared to 32 in the previous tournament.
The attacks continued in the knockout phase. The Dutch federation reported that internationals Crysencio Summerville, Justin Kluivert and Quinten Timber received racist insults on social networks after missing their shots in the penalty shootout of the Netherlands’ defeat against Morocco in the round of 32.
