Claim: An image shows an Iranian footballer paying tribute at the FIFA World Cup, holding up a backpack to honour the 168 Iranian girls killed in a US strike on a school in Minab, Iran.
Fact: The Iranian men’s football team did honour the airstrike victims, but this event took place in 2026 March, not at the FIFA World Cup. The image in the claim is AI-generated.
On 16 June 2026, X user Waqas Mughal posted an image with the caption stating:
“ایرانی فٹبالر نے امریکہ میں کھڑے ہو کر امریکی میدانوں میں ڈونلڈ ٹرمپ کے ہاتھوں شہید ہونے والی اسکول کی 168 لڑکیوں کو خراج عقیدت پیش کیا۔۔ایرانی کھلاڑی کی جرات کو سلام
Tribute to the martyred School girls”
An Iranian footballer, standing in America, paid tribute to the 168 school girls martyred at the hands of Donald Trump in American fields. Salute to the courage of the Iranian player. Tribute to the martyred School girls.
Screenshot from X post
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched this image to find its origin but could not find any similar official images from the ongoing FIFA World Cup taking place right now. FIFA’s official website shows no press release regarding such an event on the pitch by the Iranians.
Upon further investigation, news outlets reported this event on 27 March 2026, adding that an official honour was given to the children by the Iran men’s football team who wore black bands and posed with pink and purple schoolbags in a friendly match with Nigeria, held in a Turkish town named Belek. The schoolbags hold significance, as it refers to the killing of children aged 6-11 and several teachers in Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School that was hit by an airstrike. Iranian authorities say 168 people were killed when the strikes hit at the beginning of the US-Iran war, and Iran had started retaliatory missile strikes on US bases at the time.
Using an official video by Al Jazeera, we zoomed-in on the pink bag held by the footballer. Based on a side-by-side comparison of both images, Soch Fact Check noted some visual discrepancies. The bag on the left from the X post is heavily edited: the flowers seem painted on and the brightness of this image looks unnatural. In conclusion, these bags also do not match the bags held by the footballers as tribute in March 2026.
Visual comparison of the pink bag (on the right from the X post, left from official footage from Al Jazeera)
The same features of the schoolbag can be seen in the jersey of the player as well, where it is more defined, giving an impression that it has been photoshopped just like the flowers. Moreover, we make a comparison between the jersey worn by the Iranian players in official FIFA matches, hence giving more substantial evidence the jersey has been enhanced by artificial intelligence.
Comparison between AI-generated jersey (left side) and FIFA Iranian jersey (right side)
In the background of the picture in the claim, we see a personal slogan in regards to the Iranian team, (as seen below) in the background saying “ایران سرزمین یوز” translated as “Iran, the land of the Cheetah.”
Even though the cheetah is the known official symbol of Iran, according to the guidelines of FIFA and the FA during an official sanctioned match, the side screens are unlikely to carry such a personalized message or slogan for one team. The side screens are there to run advertisements for official brands, and the selection is very regulated. Hence, the whole phrase appears generated by AI due to the personalisation it carries.
Enlarged image of ایران سرزمین یوز on the side screens seen in the background
Results from AI Detection Tools
According to Google DeepMind, “SynthID embeds digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text or video. The watermarks are embedded across Google’s generative AI consumer products, and are imperceptible to humans – but can be detected by SynthID’s technology.”
To verify if the picture is AI-generated, Soch Fact Check ran the image through a tool designed by OpenAI to check if it was created using the American artificial intelligence company’s tools.
The results confirmed that a SynthID watermark originating from OpenAI was found in the image, proving that the picture has been manipulated or has been modified using this artificial intelligence tool.
OpenAI identified the presence of a SynthID watermark in the image
Furthermore, for supporting evidence we used Hive Moderation as the next AI detection scanner, which involves multiple tools like visual, audio, and text moderation. It checks if an image or text was created by AI.
We ran the image through Hive Moderation’s AI-Generated Content Detection tool, used specifically for photos.The tool analyzes visual patterns, textures, lighting, and facial features amongst other characteristics and provides a probable source of the image.
The overall result was 99.9% for the likelihood of AI-generation. Within the breakdown of “Generation Sources”, we see that it was 99.6% likely generated using GPTImage 2, a new AI generator for images, videos, and text with a broad visual style range. There are different generators for images here making range here is quite advanced explaining why the AI generation in the image was hard to detect. Hence, results from Hive Moderation also suggest that this image is AI-generated.
Results determined from Hive Moderation
Based on our independent analysis of the image, and the results from AI detection tools, we can conclude that the picture is AI-generated.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the video posted on Facebook, interactions being in thousands, from 3.8K to 5.5K views.
It was also shared multiple times on Instagram.
X saw this post shared multiple times, from accounts all over the world, especially from South Asia where it garnered as many as 15.1K views. There were accounts that gained over 200K and 40K views as well while some Pakistani accounts only gained 51 views.
Conclusion: The Iranian men’s football team did honour the airstrike victims, but this event took place in 2026 March. The image in the claim is AI-generated.
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