Cristiano Ronaldo was omitted from the deleted 2026 World Cup poster
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has removed the official 2026 World Cup poster from its social media pages following criticisms from fans.
Notable global stars who featured on the poster included Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, James Rodríguez, Son Heung-Min, Vinícius Jr., and others.
African players on the poster included Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, Sadio Mané from Senegal, Mohamed Salah from Egypt, and Jordan Ayew of Ghana, among others.
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It is worth noting that FIFA selected one player from each of the qualified countries to be featured on the poster, which was intended for publicity before and during the tournament.
However, the poster did not include Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the captain of Portugal and one of the most marketable players in the world.
This sparked outrage among concerned football fans, who accused FIFA of disrespecting the player and claimed that the omission could affect the tournament’s image.
Few hours after the backlash, the poster was removed from FIFA’s official social media pages in an effort to avoid escalating the issue.
The football governing body has not yet provided a reason for the deletion. The new FIFA poster now features Cristiano Ronaldo, En-Nesyri’s goal that beat Portugal, and Messi holding the World Cup.
The 2026 World Cup will kick off in June 2026, with 48 countries competing for the most prestigious trophy in football.
View the tweet below:
🚨 FIFA’s official account has 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 the official 2026 World Cup poster from its social media pages! 😱❌
They deleted it after receiving a large number of negative comments because Cristiano Ronaldo was not included on the poster. 👀
FIFA then added Cristiano Ronaldo… pic.twitter.com/27IzXbEzqT
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 21, 2025
SB/JE
Meanwhile, watch the feature about Swedru All Blacks’ journey from the Division One to the GPL below
