Cristiano Ronaldo has landed in the middle of a fresh FIFA World Cup 2026 controversy after fans noticed that his verified Instagram account had liked a post claiming FIFA helped Lionel Messi’s Argentina reach the final.
The incident has quickly gone viral on social media and added another talking point to a World Cup that has already been surrounded by controversy. The tournament has seen protests involving Iran, criticism over high ticket prices, visa-related issues, Balogun’s controversial suspended red card and even intervention from US President Donald Trump.
Ronaldo has not commented on the matter, and it is unclear why he liked the post. However, screenshots showing his verified Instagram handle, @cristiano, among the likes spread rapidly online.
The Instagram reel was shared by Spanish television programme Espejo Público ahead of the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. It featured journalist Pilar Rodríguez Losantos, who questioned Argentina’s route to the final and accused FIFA of favouring the defending champions.
She said: “Argentina are a team who should have been eliminated approximately five matches ago, with the help of FIFA, which is one of the most corrupt institutions on planet
Argentina began their title defence with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Algeria, as Lionel Messi scored all three goals. They followed it up with a 2-0 win against Austria. Although Messi missed an early penalty, he bounced back to score and became the FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer.
With qualification already secured, Argentina rested several key players in their final group match but still defeated Jordan 3-1. Messi came off the bench to score as Lionel Scaloni’s side finished at the top of the group.
The knockout stage tested Argentina much more. In the Round of 32, they edged past Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra time. Lisandro Martinez gave them the lead in extra time before Cabo Verde equalised once again. The winning goal came when Cristian Romero’s header took a deflection off Diney Borges and ended up in the net.
Argentina faced another scare in the Round of 16 against Egypt. They trailed by two goals before producing a remarkable comeback to win 3-2. Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround, while an emotional Messi was left in tears after the dramatic victory.
Their quarter-final against Switzerland also went beyond 90 minutes. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring before Dan Ndoye levelled the match. Switzerland were reduced to 10 men, and Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored in extra time to seal a 3-1 win.
Argentina’s semi-final against England was equally dramatic. They were heading towards defeat before Enzo Fernandez equalised five minutes from time. Lautaro Martinez then struck in stoppage time to send the defending champions into another World Cup final.
However, Argentina could not defend their title. Spain defeated them 1-0 after extra time in the final, with substitute Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal in the 106th minute to hand La Roja their second FIFA World Cup trophy.