WM 2026: How Deepfakes and Fake Shops Spoil the Fun of the Tournament

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For the 2026 World Cup, there is not only genuine reporting and offers surrounding the tournament. Internet trolls and cybercriminals are also exploiting the World Cup for their purposes. Here’s what real fans need to pay attention to.

The FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly a technical tournament. The ball used in the 2026 World Cup contains so much technology that it can analyze 500 signals per second. However, modern technology is also being used outside of the actual tournament – albeit not to the benefit of football fans. More and more cybercriminals and internet trolls are causing chaos on the sidelines.

Fake Shops for the 2026 World Cup

The FBI has been warning since the end of May 2025 about fake shops that allegedly sell tickets for the 2026 World Cup. Even after the tournament begins, cybercriminals are likely to continue trying to scam fans who want to experience a match live after the group stage. The methods used by these criminals are quite similar.

They deceive World Cup fans into believing they are on a legitimate FIFA website. The site is often modeled after the real website, making it appear authentic at first glance. The only noticeable difference is that the tickets are often significantly cheaper than on the official site, which is intended to lure fans in. Once users enter their account details to complete a ticket purchase, however, that information ends up in the hands of the criminals.

Important for football fans: If you want to buy tickets, only use the official FIFA website (fifa.com). Cybercriminals often mimic the URL by using domains like “fifa.bio”, “fifa.org”, or “fifa-com.com”. The FBI has also identified sites like “fifaworldcupticktes.com” or “fifaworldcup26.sale”.

Deepfakes Off the Field

But football fans should not believe everything they see on social media platforms during the 2026 World Cup. As reported by Tagesschau, several deepfakes and AI-manipulated images are circulating online. For instance, there is a depiction of the German fans during the match against Curaçao, where a person resembling Adolf Hitler stands among the cheering fans.

This is a deepfake. In the original footage, there is a man with gray hair cheering for the German team. Other, more explicit deepfakes of the scene can also be found on platforms like X. In these, the entire fan section, along with the fake Hitler, raises their arms in a Nazi salute and shouts fascist slogans. The source, according to Tagesschau, is Grok Imagine.

Sexist AI-generated images are also being posted online for the 2026 World Cup. They depict scantily clad women with exaggerated breasts supposedly celebrating in the fan section. Even ARD presenter Esther Sedlaczek became a target of such AI manipulations. In an image showing her in conversation with ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger, her bust was artificially enlarged. The caption from the Mexican channel read: “The German coverage of the World Cup is fantastic.” After facing significant backlash over the post, the channel deleted the image.

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