A nonprofit that monitors online antisemitism says the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been seized on by bad actors to amplify centuries-old conspiracy theories, including claims that Jews secretly control FIFA, governments and the media, and false assertions that Argentine star Lionel Messi is Jewish or under Jewish control.
CyberWell, a trusted partner of Meta, TikTok and YouTube that combats online antisemitism, said it alerted social media platforms during the final week of June after identifying dozens of World Cup-related antisemitic posts across Meta and X in English, Arabic and French. The findings demonstrate how major international events are repeatedly exploited to spread longstanding antisemitic narratives to mass audiences, the group said.
The most prominent narrative involved the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous antisemitic forgery historically used to promote false claims of Jewish world domination. CyberWell said it identified dozens of Arabic-language posts on Meta during the tournament’s first week alone that invoked the Protocols in connection with the World Cup, presenting its conspiracy theories as factual explanations for global events.
The posts claimed that Jews use sports and entertainment to distract societies, manipulate public opinion and conceal alleged control over world affairs, reinforcing stereotypes of Jews as secretive and manipulative orchestrators of global events.
Following Argentina’s victory over Algeria, posts targeting Messi falsely claimed he is Jewish, controlled by Jews or benefiting from alleged Jewish influence over FIFA and the tournament — drawing on the longstanding trope that Jews secretly control institutions and manipulate outcomes behind the scenes.
A second recurring narrative held Jews collectively responsible for the conflict in Gaza, with many Arabic posts citing the fabricated Protocols text to claim sports and entertainment were being used to deliberately distract the masses from violence. Many posts conveyed allegations of Jewish control indirectly through quotations from the Protocols rather than explicit references to Jews.
CyberWell describes the pattern as “event-driven antisemitism,” in which major cultural, political and sporting moments are exploited to amplify existing hate narratives. The group documented similar conspiracy theories during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, saying global sporting events are repeatedly exploited to spread antisemitic myths.
CyberWell said it provided platforms with contextual analysis of the narratives, relevant policy concerns and information to support enforcement.
“The World Cup commands a global stage of billions, and that visibility is exploited by those seeking to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories,” said CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor. “The targeting of Lionel Messi, the invocation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and claims that Jews control FIFA all rely on the same idea: that Jewish people are the secret master manipulators of the world.”
“When these narratives are repeatedly amplified on digital platforms, they reinforce this corrosive conspiracy theory as mainstream conversation, normalizing antisemitism and making the centuries-old hatred appear acceptable,” she said.
Cohen Montemayor cautioned that many of the posts do not explicitly mention Jews, instead invoking antisemitic conspiracy theories through indirect references such as the Protocols. She said effective content moderation requires linguistic, cultural and subject-matter expertise — a need that becomes “particularly sharp as platforms are moving to outsource most of their content moderation flows to AI.”