Fact check: Hitler look-alike at Germany's World Cup match?
Images circulating across several platforms allegedly show a football fan who resembles Adolf Hitler during Germany's 7-1 win against Curacao. But is the viral image
Images circulating across several platforms allegedly show a football fan who resembles Adolf Hitler during Germany's 7-1 win against Curacao. But is the viral image authentic? On the pitch, the focus in Germany during Sunday's FIFA World Cup match was on the national team's convincing 7–1 victory over Curaçao. Off the pitch, however, many social media users were fixated on something entirely different: an image of a fan inside the stadium wearing a German shirt, holding a German flag, and bearing a resemblance to Adolf Hitler. The image was shared across several platforms, amassing millions of views. This post on X, for example, has garnered more than 3 million views, while this one on Instagram has attracted over 460,000 likes. The claim also spread in several languages, including Spanish on Facebook and Russian on Threads. Some posts also contained undertones of anti-German sentiment, such as a Reddit post that sarcastically read: "It's always awesome to see the fans truly show up to support their team!" However, the image is not authentic. DW Fact check: Fake and AI manipulated. Here's how we came to this conclusion. 1) Look for the real image The alleged image of the Hitler look-alike appears to be a screenshot from the television broadcast of the match, complete with a timestamp corresponding to stoppage time in the first half. This was shortly after Kai Havertz had scored a penalty to make it 3-1 for Germany.
The fans were happy and celebrating. A review of the original broadcast shows the same group of fans celebrating after Havertz's goal, but with one key difference: the alleged Hitler look-alike is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the original footage shows a gray-haired man who bears no resemblance to Hitler. You can see the clear differences by sliding between the two images shown above: one is the real broadcast (in this case from German public broadcaster ARD on the right side), while the other one is the image manipulated with AI. It's important to note that for major sporting events like the World Cup, an official broadcast is produced by the organizing body (in this case, FIFA) and distributed as a central feed to partner broadcasters. This means the core images are the same across all channels, with only minor elements customized by individual broadcasters. Beyond the central broadcast, another clue to the composition of the fan group can be found by examining images from photo agencies accredited to the match. For example, this photo below by Imago, a Berlin-based agency that frequently covers major sporting events, captures the same group of fans from a different perspective, again, without any Hitler look-alike. A review of photos taken by photographers accredited to the match shows the same group of fans, but without any Hitler look-alike Image: Joao Bravo/Sports Press Photo/IMAGO While it was not possible to verify the exact moment the image was taken based on the metadata provided by the agency, it can nevertheless be considered further evidence that no such figure was part of the group.
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