In an attempt to safeguard players at the 2026 World Cup, FIFA has expanded its use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to curb social media abuse during the tournament, which runs from 11 June to 19 July. The world’s governing body for football has introduced a social media protection service and is offering its moderation tools free of charge to all 48 participating football associations this year.

Incidents of hatred and racism have risen sharply in football in recent years. According to a report by FIFPRO (International Federation of Professional Footballers), more than 20 million abusive, discriminatory or threatening posts and comments were reported on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

With the 2026 edition featuring 48 teams, the social media hatred is expected to be more than in the previous edition. While England players like Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were victims of racial abuse for missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final, Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Danso became the latest victim.

How does AI technology work here?

With this technology, it will filter abusive and offensive comments from a list of 30,000 keywords across players’ and teams’ social media channels in just under two seconds. While the person who has sent the abuse can still see his or her post, it will be hidden from others and will be reported for further investigation. As a result, the abusers will be banned from buying tickets for FIFA internationals and club games.

The AI technology works on platforms like Meta, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and YouTube. However, it will not work on X as Elon Musk has always allowed the hidden comments to be viewed on his platform.

Who uses AI to curb social media abuse?

Among the users are already some Premier League clubs, like Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. Tottenham and Arsenal have joined hands with AI platform Respondology to address the amount of abuse on their social media channels.

Respondology has NFL teams, NASCAR and commercial brands such as Boots and Marks & Spencer among its clients. Back in 2024, Manchester United introduced its social media code of conduct.

Biggest FIFA World Cup ever

With 48 teams for the first time in history, the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup will see a record 1,248 players realizing their dream. While 357 players are returning to the biggest event after playing at least one World Cup before, 891 players are set to experience it for the first time.

Among the confirmed players, 449 clubs from 71 countries are represented at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The likes of Curacao, Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan are making their FIFA World Cup debuts. Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexico’s goalkeeping icon Guillermo Ochoa are playing their record sixth FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup was expanded to 32 teams for the 1998 tournament, with the last seven editions featuring 64 games. The FIFA World Cup 2026 also marks the tournament’s second time being held across multiple countries, after Japan and South Korea co-hosted the 2002 edition.