Clip of Brazil's Neymar scoring goal against Messi in World Cup is AI-generated

Published on July 6, 2026 at 08:57
Updated on July 6, 2026 at 09:02
2 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

As FIFA fever gripped the world with the football championship set to enter quarter-final stage from July 9, a purported video of Brazilian player Neymar scoring a spectacular goal against Argentinian forward Lionel Messi circulated in social media posts calling it the "moment Neymar overcame Messi". But visual inconsistencies in the clip indicate it has been created with help of artificial intelligence tools, and the two South American football heavyweights did not face off in the World Cup before Brazil was eliminated after bowing out to Norway on July 5.

"Neymar's spectacular kick left Lionel Messi merely watching as he scored a seemingly impossible goal," reads part of a Hindi-language X post shared on June 25, 2026.

Text overlaid on the video shared over a thousand times says, "The moment Neymar overcame Messi".

Screenshot of the false post captured on June 30, 2026, with a red X and AI label added by AFP

The clip appeared online as Brazil advanced to the World Cup's last 32 after defeating Scotland by three goals on June 24 (archived link).

The FIFA World Cup that kicked off on June 11 with an opening game between Mexico and South Africa, which Mexico won 2–0, is set to enter the second knockout round (archived link).

Chances of the two South American football-crazed nations clashing in FIFA 2026 fizzled out on July 5 after Brazil was knocked out of the tournament by Erling Haaland's two late goals, that sent Norway through to its first World Cup quarter-final (archived link).

Comments from users celebrating the goal in the false post video by calling it a "masterclass" and "excellent" kick by "magician" Neymar suggest they believed the video is genuine.

But visual inconsistencies -- interchanging left and right legs of the striker and the goalkeeper missing from footage filmed on onlooker's mobile phone -- are telltale signs of the video's synthetic nature.

A closer examination of the video also shows several people in the stadium looking away from the field.

Screenshots of the falsely shared video, with visual errors highlighted by AFP

Other discrepancies like the missing FIFA World Cup logo from Messi's jersey and Neymar's blond hair are giveaways that the video does not show a genuine World Cup match.

Screenshot comparison of false post (center) with AFP photos of Neymar and Messi, with visual errors highlighted and AI label added by AFP

An analysis by Hive Moderation artificial intelligence detection tool also confirmed the video is "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content" (archived link).