Video of Yamal rebuffing Trump handshake is AI-generated
- Published on July 29, 2026 at 11:29
- 3 min read
- By Yusra JABEEN, AFP Pakistan
After US President Donald Trump presented medals to Spanish players at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final, an AI-generated video circulated online with a false claim it showed Spanish right winger Lamine Yamal refusing to shake Trump's hand during the ceremony. AFP photos and footage of the post-match ceremony show the pair did shake hands, while a detection tool has flagged the video as digitally manipulated.
"Donald Trump will remember the young Muslim player Lamine Yamal of Spain for his entire life," reads an Urdu-language X post shared on July 22, 2026.
The 14-second clip appears to show Trump trying to shake hands with Yamal as the player ignores him and collects his World Cup winner's medal from his hand.
Superimposed text in Urdu reads: "Lamine Yamal presented such a gift of embarrassment to Donald Trump that he was left speechless."
The clip was also shared in similar Facebook and Instagram posts after Spain's 1-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup final on July 19, with the US president then presenting the World Cup trophy to the team (archived link).
A "true Muslim," reads a comment on one of the posts, while another says "a true Palestinian supporter."
Support for Palestinians runs deep in Muslim‑majority Pakistan, reflected in both the public holding pro-Palestinian rallies and government officials voicing support for the rights of the Palestinian people (archived here and here).
Yamal has also expressed support for the Palestinian cause in the past, most recently during his club side Barcelona's title celebrations in May when he waved a Palestinian flag at an open-top bus parade (archived link).
Trump, on the other hand, has continued to back Israel despite the international outrage over its alleged war crimes in Gaza, in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks carried out by Hamas (archived here and here).
But the circulating clip is AI-generated and shows a scene different from the actual ceremony.
AI video
Actual photos from the ceremony that AFP published contain details different from those seen in the circulating video.
Yamal is seen wearing a red jersey with yellow stripes in the falsely shared video, while photos from the actual ceremony show him wearing a red jersey with blue sleeves.
The faces of officials behind Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino on the medal podium are also different.
Trump can be seen holding several medals, but in reality he was only holding one presented to Yamal, which the Spaniard accepted and wore. Trump's jacket appears open at the front, when in reality it remained buttoned up while Yamal was on the podium.
A keyword search on Google led to footage from the ceremony shared on the verified YouTube channels of the White House and Fox Sports, showing the two shaking hands (archived here and here).
An analysis of the video using the DeepFake-o-Meter detection tool developed by the University at Buffalo found that the video was "likely AI-generated" (archived link).
It also shows visual signs that it had been manipulated -- including medals suddenly morphing into two hanging from the same blue ribbon. Trump's eyes and mouth also stay fixed throughout the clip, with no natural shifts in expression or movement.
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about the 2026 World Cup.
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