NEW DELHI: Cristiano Ronaldo found himself at the center of the new FIFA World Cup 2026 controversy after his verified Instagram account liked a post that accused FIFA of supporting it. Lionel MessiArgentina reached the final. The incident has added to a tournament already beset by a number of controversies, including Iran protests, criticism of ticket prices, visa issues, Balogun’s long-delayed red card and the intervention of US President Donald Trump.Ronaldo did not publicly explain why he liked the post, but images showing his verified account, @cristiano, among those who liked the video quickly went viral on social media.
The Instagram photo was posted by the account of the Spanish television program Espejo Público before the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.The video featured journalist Pilar RodrÃguez Losantos, who questioned Argentina’s trip to the finals and strongly criticized FIFA.
He said: “Argentina is a team that should have been eliminated about five games ago, with the help of FIFA, which is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world.Argentina began their World Cup defense with a 3-0 win over Algeria, Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick. They followed it up with a 2-0 win in Austria, where Messi recovered from an early miss to become the top scorer in a FIFA World Cup.A much-changed Argentina then beat Jordan 3-1, Messi coming off the bench to score as the defenders finished top of their group.In the Round of 32, they defeated Cabo Verde 3-2 after extra time. Lisandro Martinez put Argentina ahead in extra time before Cabo Verde equalized again. Cristian Romero’s header, which was deflected into the net by Diney Borges, finally sealed the win.The Round of 16 against Egypt backfired surprisingly. Argentina recovered from two goals down to win 3-2, with Enzo Fernandez finishing the conversion. The emotional victory left Messi in tears as Argentina avoided an early exit.In the quarterfinals, Argentina defeated Switzerland 3-1 after extra time. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring before Dan Ndoye equalized. Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored in extra time against the 10th-ranked Swiss team.The defending champions made a late comeback in the semi-finals, beating England 2-1. Enzo Fernandez equalized with five minutes remaining from Lautaro Martinez to score the winner in stoppage time to send Argentina to the next World Cup.Argentina’s hopes of retaining the World Cup ended in the final.Spain beat Lionel Scaloni’s side 1-0 after extra time, with substitute Ferran Torres scoring the only goal of the game in the 106th minute to give La Roja their second World Cup title.