From fake clips of Norway's Erling Haaland to fabricated images used to allege that Argentina rigged the tournament, misinformation spread alongside some of the 2026 World Cup’s biggest matches.

The final whistle for the 2026 World Cup has blown, with Spain crowned world champions after beating Argentina 1-0 in the final which took place New Jersey.

Yet while the football is over, another tournament played out online with a slew of AI-generated videos, fabricated images and misleading clips spreading alongside the biggest matches, often racking up millions of views before being debunked.

The posts served a range of purposes, from humour and political messaging to criticism of players and their teams. Other publications were seemingly crafted to generate clicks and advertising revenue.

The Cube, Euronews' fact-checking team, took a look at some of the false and misleading content doing the rounds.

AI's favourite player: Erling Haaland

No player embodied the rise of AI-generated content in this tournament more than Norwegian striker Erling Haaland.

Perhaps the most viral was a video of him glancing up at his reflection in a restaurant and flinching. It garnered more than 30 million views in a single day, but it turned out to be a result of a face swap applied to a video originally posted by a Chinese content creator.

However, it didn't seem to matter for fans of the player, with the video going on to gain a further 10 million views across social media.

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