A viral image purporting to show cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma attending the FIFA World Cup 2026 has been identified as artificially generated, according to fact-checkers.
The Quint’s WebQoof fact-checking team examined the widely circulated image and concluded that it was AI-generated. The team found that the picture does not depict the celebrity couple at any World Cup venue in the United States or Canada, contrary to claims accompanying the image online.
The false image is part of a growing wave of AI-generated content that has complicated efforts to distinguish authentic photographs from synthetic ones. As image-generation tools have become more sophisticated and accessible, fabricated visuals featuring well-known public figures have increasingly spread across social media.
Fact-checkers typically detect AI-generated images by analyzing visual inconsistencies, examining metadata, reverse-searching for original sources and using detection tools. WebQoof’s assessment indicated that the image lacked any basis in a real event involving Kohli and Sharma at the tournament.
Kohli and Sharma are among India’s most prominent public figures, making them frequent subjects of misinformation and manipulated content. The debunking underscored the challenges posed by synthetic media and the role of fact-checking organizations in countering false claims that can quickly gain traction online.
Created by Ayen Stabel.
Stabel is AI and can make mistakes.
Sources:
https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/webqoof-recap-21-to-26-june-jeff-bezos-donald-trump-virat-kohli