Hundreds of accounts linked to pro-Palestinian activism and sectors aligned with England launched during the World Cup a hate campaign against the Argentine National Team, based on false accusations of racism, attacks against the support of the Government of Javier Milei for Israel and its fight against international terrorism, as well as unproven allegations of supposed refereeing favoritism.
Celebrities, actors, musicians, and influencers with millions of followers amplified these messages and helped transform a sports rivalry into a political and cultural attack against Argentina, which eventually moved from social media to the streets, with assaults against Argentine citizens in New York and more than 20 reports filed in Spain.
Dozens of Argentines were attacked in the streets due to the hate campaign.
A survey conducted between June 11 and July 20 recorded nearly 2.7 million posts within four major narratives, although some overlapped. The accusation that Argentina was a racist country accumulated 826,000 mentions, while another 764,000 linked the country to Israel and the war in Gaza.
Additionally, 688,000 posts spread expressions like “ArgenFIFA” to denounce a supposed rigged tournament, while 379,000 made direct references to a campaign against the National Team. The highest peak occurred during the semifinal against England, when accusations of racism reached 80,000 messages in a single day.
Celebrities that amplified the offensive
Mia Khalifa was one of the main promoters of the campaign. The former porn actress expelled from her Muslim home country repeatedly expressed her rejection of the National Team, used the term “VARgentina,” labeled the players as beneficiaries of refereeing, and stated that she preferred a victory for England.
Mia Khalifa showed her support for Spain in various matches.
Samuel L. Jackson also joined the attack by sharing a message that described Argentina as one of the “most racist countries in the world,” despite the fact that upon being born in his home country he had to use bathrooms and buses only for "blacks." The post also included an AI-generated montage to ridicule Argentine fans.
Samuel L. Jackson
The communist mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, also joined the campaign, taking advantage of an official event about public transport to claim that Egypt had been “robbed” in its match against Argentina. The Muslim's intervention helped amplify the accusations of supposed refereeing favoritism and moved the hate campaign into the institutional sphere. Comedian Eric André spread even more aggressive messages. In widely circulated screenshots, he insulted Argentines, linked them to Nazism, and promoted theories about supposed bribes to benefit the national team.
The communist Zohran Mamdani claimed that Argentina "stole the match" from Egypt in the World Cup
Other celebrities participated through posts, reposts, or interactions. Pedro Pascal marked as a favorite a video celebrating Argentina's defeat with a racial slogan, while Rosalía shared a post from Mia Khalifa against the National Team. The Spanish singer later deleted the content and claimed she had not read the message.
Pedro Pascal, Chilean actor
The British singer Niall Horan also “liked” a post that included the phrase “The Falklands are Spanish,” although he later stated it was a mistake and expressed his affection for Argentina.
The coincidence between pro-Palestinian militant accounts, English sympathizers, and international celebrities consolidated a sustained digital offensive that far exceeded the sports rivalry. The false accusations, insults, and unproven theories established a hate campaign against Argentina that fueled assaults and episodes of harassment against Argentine citizens abroad.
