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FIFA had to remove one of its promotional posters for the World Cup: they forgot Cristiano Ronaldo
Nov 20 2025 21:16 · By NICOLE SOMMA · 87 Reads
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W ith almost 200 days to go before the start of the FIFA World Cup , the sports organization began preparations by publishing one of the promotional posters for the competition.
However, it generated a lot of controversy on social media because it showed different figures representing their countries, but there was one notable absence: Cristiano Ronaldo .
Fans did not forgive FIFA, and it had to backtrack
On its official accounts, the International Federation of Association Football shared a poster featuring the best players from each of the 42 teams that qualified directly for the 2026 World Cup . This design was intended to promote the final draw for the tournament , scheduled for December 5, but they made a 'mistake' that fans did not let slide.
The post showed Lionel Messi representing Argentina, Kylian Mbappé with France, Harry Kane with England, and Erling Haaland with Norway, to name a few.
However, when it came to Portugal, it was not CR7's face as expected, but Bruno Fernandes . That's when fans -not only from Portugal, but from around the world- launched their criticism in the comments . The pressure and discontent did not go unnoticed by FIFA, which chose to remove the poster from its accounts without explanation, as reported by Bolavip .
While some of the comments focused on CR7's legacy , others accused FIFA of favoritism toward Lionel Messi : " The editor forgot Ronaldo? Yeah, that's a Messi fan at work, 100% ," said one of them. " Ronaldo doesn't need posters. Posters need Ronaldo ," wrote another user. " CR7 missing always brings the heat - no surprise they had to delete it ," commented a third fan.
Meanwhile, the draw for the 2026 World Cup , which will determine the competition groups, will take place on Friday, December 5, in Washington .
The tournament will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico and will take place from June 11 to July 19.
Teams that have already qualified for the World Cup: