Fifa’s social media protection service has discovered a 14-fold rise in harmful posts and comments during the 2026 World Cup compared with the 2022 tournament.
More than seven million messages in total were detected and removed over the summer.
That is a sharp jump from 470,000 such posts and comments at the previous World Cup.
The governing body also logged more than 200,000 abusive and threatening posts and comments, a steep climb from 19,600 during Qatar 2022.
Over 15,000 posts were referred for further action, and more than 1,000 exceptionally serious threats were handed to the relevant authorities, including law enforcement.
The social media protection service (SMPS) acts as a digital shield for every team, coach, player and official involved in Fifa competitions.
It moderated over 53 million posts and comments during the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Artificial intelligence picked up more than 530,000 messages aimed at specific individuals, and these have been reviewed by the SMPS team.
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