Fifa’s social media protection service (SMPS) has reported a substantial rise in severe online racist abuse during the 2026 World Cup. Analysts identified 89,000 abusive messages throughout the tournament’s group stage.
This figure represents a thirteen-fold climb from the 2022 event, which recorded 6,700 offensive comments across 48 matches compared to the 72 games played this year. Data shows that 11% of all detected abuse was racist, a 3% increase over the previous four-year period, with a marked rise in highly offensive content.
Authorities have prepared legal case files for over 100 instances that met the criteria for enforcement. Despite better detection technology, the SMPS noted a troubling trend regarding racially motivated harassment. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) confirmed that Netherlands players Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber, and Crysencio Summerville faced discriminatory attacks on social media following their penalty shootout loss to Morocco.
In total, the protection service scanned over six million posts, leading to 225,000 items being flagged for human review. These efforts resulted in 181,000 comments being hidden and roughly 1,000 accounts being marked for potential follow-up investigation.