Does footage of the Germany vs. Curaçao World Cup Game show a fan in the stands who looked just like Adolf Hitler and was rooting for Germany? No, that's not true: The screenshot of the FIFA World Cup match footage has been digitally altered. A verification tool from OpenAI found a SynthID watermark embedded in the image. The authentic FIFA footage from this moment in the broadcast shows this group of fans in the crowd, but the man in question does not resemble Hitler.
The altered image appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @NoodleHairCR7 on June 14, 2026. It was captioned:
This is the most entertaining World Cup ever man 😭😭😭
This is the image included with the post:
(Image source: post by @NoodleHairCR7 on X.)
Lead Stories uploaded the image to the verification tool at OpenAI. The tool found the image was generated with OpenAI tools (pictured below). Details provided with the report mentioned the presence of Google's DeepMind watermark called SynthID (archived here), which identifies AI-generated content, and the absence of any Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity credentials (C2PA) (archived here), stating:
SynthID detected
We found a SynthID watermark that originated from OpenAI.
Content Credentials not detectedWe did not find a trusted C2PA manifest originating from OpenAI.
(Image source: OpenAI.)
A June 14, 2026 FOX Sports YouTube video (archived here) titled, "Germany vs Curaçao Extended Highlights 🌎🏆 2026 FIFA World Cup™" contains the FIFA footage appearing in the AI-altered still image. The altered screenshot shows a score of Germany 3, Curaçao 1 and a time of 50:09 on the clock. This moment occurs at the 12:49 mark in the YouTube video (embedded below and cued to begin at that time). All of the people in the frame looked the same except for the man depicted as Hitler -- he bore no resemblance, had no moustache, and had blond hair.
Other fact checks
This claim was also investigated by DW, AFP Fact Check and Newschecker.
