Racial abuse is growing and has become a persistent threat to the wellbeing of players, according to the latest findings from FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ group stage.

Available to all teams, players, coaches and match officials participating at FIFA tournaments, SMPS protects them and their followers from experiencing discriminatory and offensive content. When all other identity-based forms of discrimination are analysed, racially motivated attacks account for 11 per cent of all offensive messages and are the leading category of abusive comments and posts. This is not only a 3 per cent rise when compared to the equivalent stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, but it also marks a significant increase in the objectively worst, most offensive material.

Of the 6 million posts and comments analysed – an increase of 33 per cent compared to the equivalent stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 – 225,000 were identified for human review, from which over 89,000 have been verified as abusive and actioned accordingly, with approximately 1,000 accounts escalated for further investigation. This marks a 13-time increase when compared to 2022 when 6,700 abusive comments were identified. It is, however, key to note that these figures compare a 32-team group stage in 2022 with a 48-team format in 2026.

As part of the evolution of SMPS, the service also collates evidence for law enforcement and over 100 examples have been identified which pass the legal thresholds for preparing legal case files against them from the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage.

Technical improvements to the SMPS’s capabilities in detecting and handling potentially harmful content has contributed to the increase in the number of instances reported, however the data trends show a concerning direction of travel in terms of racially aggravated abuse.

Racial abuse is not the only form of discrimination, with hate taking many forms. The moderation service provided for team accounts automatically hid approximately 181,000 hateful comments, reducing the number of unwanted and unpleasant distractions for teams – and their followers. A total of 2,028,214 comments were moderated during the FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage matches, between 11 and 27 June, which includes spam content and abuse generated by bots, or fake accounts. This is a four-time increase when compared to 2022. These figures are revealed following the announcement that SMPS had removed over 30 million abusive posts and comments in more than 50 languages since the service was launched in 2022, across all major social media platforms.

Earlier this month, FIFA marked the International Day of Countering Hate Speech on 18 June, delivering a powerful moment in the four venues hosting matches that day.

Meanwhile, this tournament’s edition of the No Racism campaign encourages fans to listen to the experiences of those affected by racial abuse, to stand up against such behaviour whenever they encounter it and to continue to show up as allies in the fight against racism.