Cristiano Ronaldo did not say a single word after being eliminated in the round of 16. But he did not need to speak: an Instagram “like” was enough to light the fuse.
The Portuguese player’s official account reacted to a video from the Spanish program Espejo Público, in which journalists Pilar Rodríguez and Rubén Amón accused FIFA of favoring Argentina throughout the 2026 World Cup, calling Gianni Infantino’s institution “corrupt and mafia-like”. The clip was published on July 16, three days before Argentina lost 1-0 to Spain in the grand final.
Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s head of refereeing, had already rejected the accusations, and Lisandro Martínez himself defended the standard of the referees in the tournament. But the damage had already been done: the PopBase post showing CR7’s like racked up nearly 700,000 reactions and more than 20,000 comments within hours 🔥⚽