As the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its final stage, controversies from earlier rounds are still stirring up misleading claims and false images online.
For example, Egypt's elimination from the tournament on 7 July has triggered a wave of unsupported social media claims targeting French referee François Letexier.
It all began after Argentina won 3-2 against Egypt, in a match filled with controversial decisions which saw the former emerge victorious after initially falling two goals behind. Egypt's Football Association filed a formal complaint with FIFA afterwards, accusing Letexier and his team of making "serious refereeing mistakes".
Among the issues of contention were an Egyptian goal that was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) after Egypt midfielder Marwan Attia was penalised for stepping on Lisandro Martinez's foot, and a belief that Mohamed Salah was fouled in the Argentina penalty area, just before the South American country went 3-2 up.
Egypt called for Letexier to be excluded from the remainder of the tournament.
Criticism of the refereeing decisions developed into broader conspiracy theories online. Some users claimed, without evidence, that Letexier's alleged Jewish background showed Israel had influenced the outcome of the match, whilst others used it as evidence that FIFA had manipulated the tournament in Argentina's favour.
The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking team, took a closer look at the allegations.
Several...
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