Sport · Magazin
World Cup 2026: which teams were hit hardest by anti-LGBTI+ abuse online
FIFA's social media protection service analysed 17.1 million posts: France drew the most anti-LGBTI+ comments, ahead of Spain and Portugal. Anti-LGBTI+ hostility made up 4 per cent of the abuse.
The numbers According to gay.ch (19 October 2026), the analysis rests on the report of the FIFA Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) on the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the USA. The «Threat Matrix» software examined 17.1 million posts and comments; about 477,000 were flagged by AI and reviewed by people, and 240,000 of those were classed as abusive. 165,000 items were reported to the platforms, around 2,905 may amount to criminal offences, and 786 were passed to law enforcement. The number of abusive posts was eleven times higher than at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the report says.
Who was targeted General insults made up 43 per cent, racism 12 per cent, anti-LGBTI+ hostility 4 per cent. France received the most abuse overall, ahead of Great Britain and Portugal. France also led on anti-LGBTI+ comments, followed by Spain and Portugal. One individual player received over 10,000 attacks, about 40 per cent of them racist, and was also the most targeted person for anti-LGBTI+ hostility.
Context FIFA says the system is meant to protect players and teams better and to collect evidence for prosecutors. Switzerland is not mentioned in the report, according to gay.ch. If you see anti-LGBTI+ posts you can report them on the platform; in Switzerland, the Pink Cross hate-crime reporting service also takes cases. This piece summarises gay.ch's reporting; the primary source is the FIFA report.
Sources & background
- gay.ch / FIFA SMPS ↗gay.ch / FIFA SMPS · Accessed October 25, 2026
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