Keep politics out of football? Try telling that to the internet's army of World Cup shitposters

The article examines how World Cup coverage is increasingly shaped by online politics and AI-enabled misinformation, as the France vs Argentina final narrative becomes a proxy dispute. It describes a social-media video that circulated on Thursday morning claiming Israel was celebrating and alleging Mossad involvement in getting Argentina to the final, though the clip was unverified and the fans shown were in an unspecified location. The piece says posts throughout the tournament frequently recast players and teams as heroes or villains aligned with geopolitical sides, often amplified by generative AI and deepfakes. It also references claims about Lionel Messi’s supposed Zionist views, including images tied to the Western Wall and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while noting Messi is widely described as apolitical and without public statements on the conflict. The author links earlier semi-final controversy to the Falklands War, citing deepfake videos featuring Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in naval-themed scenes, and mentions Nigel Farage’s reactions related to the “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” banner.