Snopes.com5%
FIFA, Spain posted World Cup photos without Trump. Was it intentional? 7%
By Taija PerryCook6%
7/21/2026, 3:16:15 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Ambiguity (Equivocation), and Red Herring, with Overconfidence Bias as the most egregious example at 12.1% saturation with 119 hits. Analysis detected 849 faulty-reasoning hits from 986 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 23.1% and a BS Rank of 7% (18,247 of 19,442 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 93.90% of the article peer group.
On July 19, 2026, U.S.
President Donald Trump presented the FIFA World Cup trophy to Spain after they beat Argentina 1-0 in the men's final.
He lingered on the stage afterward, standing to the side before FIFA President Gianni Infantino ushered him away.
Shortly after, a rumor circulated online that the social media accounts of FIFA and the Spanish national men's soccer team both posted photos of Spain celebrating, with Trump cropped out of the frame.
For example, one Instagram user wrote (<comment-start name="ee3c15de5c9a741ba41a509385c71804f:2d7cc"></comment-start>):
<blockquote><p>U.S.
President Donald Trump refused to step out of the frame for Team Spain's trophy lift after they won the World Cup so FIFA decided to crop him out of their official photo.
Team Spain also cropped him out on their posts.</p></blockquote>
<p><br><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p>Some users (<comment-start name="ea6a5d774727bf468e0d67965b9f78519:dc49c"></comment-start>) separately claimed Spain (<comment-start name="ea6a5d774727bf468e0d67965b9f78519:dc49c"></comment-start>) edited Trump out of the image its social media team posted (<a href="https://perma.cc/8TD8-VPEY">archived</a>, <a href="https://perma.cc/3VQ2-92SQ">archived</a>).
<comment-end name="ea6a5d774727bf468e0d67965b9f78519:dc49c"></comment-end></p>
<p>In short, it is true that both FIFA and Spain's team posted pictures of the trophy ceremony celebration without Trump in the frame, though he is slightly visible on the edge of the photo FIFA posted.
However, Trump was not digitally edited out of the photo Spain posted, as some users incorrectly claimed.
He had already stepped aside in that photograph.
It is unclear whether the photo Spain posted was a full picture that never featured Trump or an image their social media team had cropped to remove the president.
Below, we break down the two posts.</p>
<h2>FIFA cropped Trump out of close range photo</h2>
<p>Not long after Spain beat Argentina, FIFA posted the following <a href="https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2078978672346779703">picture</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/C8WE-TBEB">archived</a>), captioned, "Champions."
At first glance, Trump is not visible.</p>
<p><div id="tweet0" class="twitter_tweet_display_box" data-tweet-id="2078978672346779703"></div></p>
<p>Reputable photo repository Getty Images published another photograph of the same moment, but from a different angle.
That shows Trump standing to the immediate right and slightly in front of the players.</p>
<img class="img-lg" src="https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/600?
url=https://media.snopes.com/2026/07/spain_v_argentina_final_-_fifa_world_cup_2026.jpg" alt="Spain holds the FIFA World Cup Trophy as Donald Trump looks on following Spain's victory over Argentina in the FIFA World Cup 2026."
>
<p><strong>(Photo courtesy of Ian MacNicol, accessed via Getty Images.)</strong></p>
<p>The right side of the picture FIFA <a href="https://perma.cc/C8WE-TBEB">posted</a> does, however, show the edge of Trump's suit, indicating an intentional cropping-out of the U.S. president.</p>
<p>As of this writing, none of the posts on FIFA's X page shows Trump (<a href="https://perma.cc/VQ7H-LEGS">archived</a>).</p>
<h2>Spain posted picture taken after Trump stepped aside</h2>
<p>The social media accounts for Spain's team also posted a <a href="https://x.com/SEFutbol/status/2078975168282591727">photograph</a> of the trophy ceremony celebration (<a href="https://perma.cc/Y3JK-GLYV">archived</a>), <comment-start name="e597ecdad8cb4dc66d6751394a4c12303:a0f1a"></comment-start>though they chose a frame showing Trump having already stepped aside<comment-end name="e597ecdad8cb4dc66d6751394a4c12303:a0f1a"></comment-end> (this depicted a moment in time that was a few seconds after FIFA's photo was captured).
There were no signs the picture Spain posted had been digitally manipulated to remove the U.S. president.
It's possible they chose a photo that never featured Trump in the frame in the first place.</p>
<p>We reached out to the Spanish Football Association — which owns the rights to <a href="https://rfef.es/es/noticias/espana-vuelve-a-dominar-el-mundo">the image</a> — seeking clarification regarding whether the photograph originally excluded Trump anyway or if the association cropped him out of it.
We will update this story if we receive a response.</p>
<p><div id="tweet1" class="twitter_tweet_display_box" data-tweet-id="2078975168282591727"></div></p>
<p>Fox Sports' video of the celebration shows the team jumping up and down with the trophy for almost 10 seconds before the camera cut to another angle.
In that time, Infantino had gestured Trump to the side before the U.S. president eventually stepped away.
The exact moment the picture Spain posted was taken occurs at <a href="https://youtu.be/KPja-DD56M0?
si=TAqliWPcEntgnrNU&t=1041">17:21</a>, when Trump was standing just out of frame to the right.</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KPja-DD56M0?
si=hM135xOcczO32Ms6&start=1041" class="lazy_load_iframe" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Da_hjnnxCgu/">video</a> Spain's team later posted of the full celebration, they cropped Trump out of frame while he was still standing close to the players — even at the cost of cutting some players out of the frame.</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background:#FFF;border-radius:3px;border:0;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da_hjnnxCgu/?
utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"><div style="padding:16px;">
<div style="align-items:center;display:flex;flex-direction:row;">
<div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px;"> </div>
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<div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px;"><a style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da_hjnnxCgu/?
utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">View this post on Instagram</a></div>
</div>
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<div style="align-items:center;display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;">
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<div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12.5px;margin-left:2px;margin-right:14px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;"> </div>
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<div style="border-bottom:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-top:2px solid transparent;height:0;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);width:0;"> </div>
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<div style="border-right:8px solid transparent;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;transform:translateY(16px);width:0px;"> </div>
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<div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px;">
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<p> </p>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap;"><a style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da_hjnnxCgu/?
utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@sefutbol)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p>
<p>Trump also wasn't featured in the 20-image Instagram carousel the team <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Da_8m5yDR8z/?
img_index=1">posted</a> afterward, nor any other posts, as far as we could determine.</p>
<h2>In sum …</h2>
<p><comment-start name="e37578bcbb6fb27559b54df9bd5524fb5:d899d"></comment-start>Both <a href="https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2078978672346779703?
ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2078978672346779703%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Fx.com%2FFIFAWorldCup%2Fstatus%2F2078978672346779703image%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Fi.embed.ly%2F1%2Fimage3Furl3Dhttps253A252F252Fpbs.twimg.com252Fmedia252FHNoEA9ZWQAApLFT.jpg253Alarge26key3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935">FIFA</a> and <a href="https://x.com/SEFutbol/status/2078975168282591727">Spain</a> posted images<comment-end name="e37578bcbb6fb27559b54df9bd5524fb5:d899d"></comment-end> showing the Spanish team celebrating during the World Cup trophy celebration but that also excluded Trump.
Spain also cropped him out of a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Da_hjnnxCgu/">video</a> showing their team's trophy lift. </p>
<p>A separate claim that Spain "edited" Trump out of their photo is misleading, as he had already stepped aside.</p>
<p>We've previously addressed rumors about Trump's relationship to FIFA — and Infantino in particular — including a claim that FIFA considered moving 2026 World Cup matches <a href="https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/06/12/trump-fifa-cancels-world-cup-matches-in-us/">outside of the U.S.</a> due to concerns over Trump's immigration policies.
We also looked into a story involving Trump similarly <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fifa-president-trophy/">staying onstage</a> to celebrate with English Premier League club <span>Chelsea F.C.</span> after they won the <span>FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.</span></p>
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