NEW DELHI: Cristiano Ronaldo has found himself at the centre of a fresh FIFA World Cup 2026 controversy after his verified Instagram account liked a post that accused FIFA of helping Lionel Messi 's Argentina reach the final.
The incident has added to a tournament that has already seen several controversies, including protests involving Iran, criticism over ticket prices, visa issues, Balogun's suspended red card and US President Donald Trump's intervention.
Ronaldo has not publicly explained why he liked the post, but screenshots showing his verified account, @cristiano, among those who liked the video quickly spread across social media.
The Instagram reel was posted by the account of Spanish television programme Espejo Público before the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
The video featured journalist Pilar Rodríguez Losantos, who questioned Argentina's journey to the final and made strong allegations against FIFA.
She said: "Argentina are a team who should have been eliminated approximately five matches ago, with the help of FIFA, which is one of the most corrupt institutions on planet Earth."
Argentina began their World Cup title defence with a 3-0 win over Algeria, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick. They followed it up with a 2-0 victory over Austria, where Messi recovered from an early penalty miss to become the FIFA World Cup's all-time leading scorer.
A much-changed Argentina then defeated Jordan 3-1, with Messi coming off the bench to score as the defending champions finished top of their group.
In the Round of 32, they beat Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra time. Lisandro Martinez gave Argentina the lead in extra time before Cabo Verde equalised again. Cristian Romero's header, which was deflected into the net by Diney Borges, eventually sealed the win.
The Round of 16 against Egypt produced another dramatic comeback. Argentina recovered from two goals down to win 3-2, with Enzo Fernandez completing the turnaround. The emotional victory left Messi in tears as Argentina avoided an early exit.
In the quarter-finals, Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 after extra time. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring before Dan Ndoye equalised. Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez struck in extra time against a 10-man Swiss side.
The defending champions then produced another late comeback in the semi-finals, beating England 2-1. Enzo Fernandez equalised with five minutes remaining before Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in stoppage time to send Argentina into another World Cup final.
Argentina's hopes of retaining the World Cup came to an end in the final.
Spain defeated Lionel Scaloni's side 1-0 after extra time, with substitute Ferran Torres scoring the only goal of the match in the 106th minute to hand La Roja their second World Cup title.
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