2026 World Cup: Senegal team targeted by disinformation from Moroccan fans

A video of a security check at an airport involving the Senegalese national team in the United States has become the target of misinformation spread by Moroccan fans. They falsely claim that the Senegalese players were humiliated during a search, sharing as evidence an AI-generated photo and a fake article.

A video of the Senegalese national team, currently in the United States for the 2026 World Cup, which was released last Sunday, has sparked controversy. It shows the Lions of Teranga – as the Senegalese national football team is nicknamed – undergoing searches, including the use of metal detectors, on the tarmac of an American airport.

On social media, the controversy surrounding the security checks of the Senegalese team continues to escalate. It is fueled by misinformation, notably spread by Moroccan fans and some media outlets. Despite a denial from the Senegalese team, they persist in claiming that the Senegalese players were humiliated during security searches conducted in the United States.

The Senegalese coach "searched from head to toe"? A photo created by AI

A photo of Pape Thiaw, the coach of the Senegal team, supposedly being searched "from head to toe" is thus shared by the Lion Times, an X account of Moroccan media specializing in football, and many Moroccan supporters (as here and there).

In the image, the Senegalese technician, who is wearing a blue t-shirt with the inscription "Senegal", appears to be undergoing a humiliating body search by a member of the airport security service.

"We are eagerly awaiting the official statement of indignation from the Senegalese federation... Oh sorry, they only make statements to whine when they are staying in 5-star hotels in Morocco," the Lion Times account ironically commented, referring to the criticisms made by Pape Thiaw regarding the accommodation conditions of the Senegalese team in Morocco during the last Africa Cup of Nations (CAN).

However, this photo is fake.

First, SynthID, Google's artificial image detection tool, reveals that the image contains a watermark indicating that it was in fact generated by Google's image-generating artificial intelligence, Nano Banana.

Then, on Sunday, June 7, the day the video of the search of the Senegalese team was filmed, Pape Thiaw was not wearing a blue t-shirt, as shown in the AI-generated photo.

As shown in a photograph published on the official Instagram account of the Senegalese Football Federation, the coach was wearing a black t-shirt when he boarded the plane.

It is likely that the fake photo of the coach was AI-generated from footage of the search of the Senegal team in which some players were wearing blue t-shirts.

A Washington Post article about "ritual objects" seized in the luggage of the Senegalese team?

Several Moroccan media outlets (here and there) claim that the Washington Post, a leading American newspaper, has revealed another embarrassing situation for the Senegalese national team. According to an article in the paper, airport security seized "ritual objects" and "amulets" from the luggage of the Senegalese delegation, which they allege proves that the Lions practice "black magic." These media outlets present a screenshot of the supposed article as evidence.

However, this article is a blatant fake. First, there is no article about witchcraft objects found in the luggage of the Senegalese team on the Washington Post website. A search using the keywords "ritualistic" and "senegal," which appear in the supposed article's title, yields no results. Furthermore, the screenshot shows an invalid web address for the article: "washingtonpost.com/airport securit," with a space between "airport" and "securit." Websites cannot use empty characters in their addresses, otherwise they will not function correctly.

A grudge dating back to the AFCON

What can explain this outpouring of misinformation coming from certain Moroccan media outlets and supporters?

"The situation has become very tense between Moroccan and Senegalese supporters since the 2025 AFCON final, where Senegal won on the field and Morocco was awarded a victory by default," explains Babacar Fall, sports correspondent for RFI, based in Dakar.

The appeals jury of the Confederation of African Football has indeed stripped the Lions of Teranga of their title two months after the final, a situation which will still have to be decided by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"Senegalese and Moroccan fans are attacking each other through posts and videos. The Moroccans are taking advantage of this episode of the search of the Senegalese team in an American airport to say 'Well, there you go, you are being mistreated in the United States while you were well received in Morocco'."

Faced with this misinformation, Senegalese fans are using the same tactics as their Moroccan counterparts. They are sharing, in a satirical manner, an AI-generated image of a fake search of the Moroccan football team, inspired by the video of their own team's security check. To discredit the Moroccan team, these Senegalese fans claim that American customs officials confiscated "stolen towels" from the Moroccan players' luggage.