Is a video showing Erling Haaland, a Manchester City footballer, reciting the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, and converting to Islam, real? No, that's not true: An online AI video detection tool determined that the clip is 100% "likely to be AI-Generated."A separate tool found that the video showed signs of having been created or modified using AI tools or techniques.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on X on March 13, 2026. It read:
Erling Haaland, the star of football, continues to make headlines. The latest images of Erling Haaland, who attracts attention not only for his football skills but also for his personal life, have taken social media by storm. These recent images of the footballer, who is said to be a Muslim, have sparked considerable interest. #ErlingHaaland #football #ardagüler #muslim #islam
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @TruthMovemen on X.)
A Google News search (archived here) found no evidence that Haaland had converted to Islam.
Video analysis
Lead Stories ran the video through Gemini (archived here), Google's AI assistant. It reached these conclusions:
According to the SynthID tool, this video does not contain a Google AI watermark. However, this does not rule out the possibility that it was created or modified using other AI tools or techniques.
Based on a visual analysis and available information, there are several signs that this video is likely a deepfake or a digitally manipulated clip:
Visual Inconsistencies: In the first part of the video showing a conversion ceremony, the face of the person identified as Erling Haaland has several unnatural features. When he moves or is hugged, the facial features sometimes appear to "glitch" or shift slightly independently of the head, which is a common characteristic of deepfake technology. The facial structure also doesn't perfectly match Haaland's actual features (e.g., the jawline and forehead area look slightly different).
Contextual Evidence: There are no credible news reports or official statements from Erling Haaland or Manchester City confirming a religious conversion. While Haaland has occasionally used Islamic phrases like "Inshallah" or "Alhamdulillah" on social media--often in interaction with Muslim teammates--there is no evidence of him participating in the specific ceremony shown in this video.
Video Origins: The second clip of Haaland and Jack Grealish appears to be a real video from a locker room setting, but the Islamic-themed music and emojis have been added over it to fit the narrative of the first (likely fake) clip.
In summary, while the SynthID tool did not detect its specific watermark, visual and contextual evidence suggests that the video is likely a product of AI manipulation or a deepfake.
Lead Stories also noticed a garbled Manchester City badge on the hoodie worn in the video. The badge is distorted even though Haaland's features and other details in the foreground are very sharp in the video:
(Image sources: post by @TruthMovemen on X and Manchester City FC.)
A second tool, Hive Moderation AI-Generated Content Detection, concluded the video was "likely to be AI-Generated" with an aggregated score of 100 percent. The higher the score, the greater the AI content:
(Image source: Hive Moderation.)
