Fifa's social media protection service has recorded a 14-fold increase in harmful posts and comments during the 2026 World Cup compared with the 2022 tournament in Qatar. The finding highlights a sharp escalation in online abuse directed at players, coaches and officials during football's biggest event, despite ongoing efforts to moderate and remove such content.

More than seven million harmful messages have been identified and removed this summer, up from 470,000 at the 2022 World Cup, while abusive and threatening posts rose from 19,600 to over 200,000. The service, which moderated more than 53 million posts and comments in total, escalated over 15,000 posts for further action and passed more than 1,000 serious threats to authorities, including law enforcement. AI tools also flagged over 530,000 messages targeting specific individuals for review by Fifa's team.