|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: Social media users are sharing clips on platforms like Facebook to suggest that the model bearing the South African flag tripped and fell during the opening ceremony in Mexico.
Verdict: False. The viral clip was manipulated. DUBAWA Ghana has reviewed videos from the Mexico opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and found no instance of the model with the South African flag tripping and falling.
Full Text
A clip has gone viral on social media showing the model carrying the South African flag tripping and tumbling forward during the opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In the 10-second clip, the flag bearer is seen losing balance while walking, falling to the ground and rolling over the flag before getting up.
The footage has been reposted by several high‑engagement accounts, including Accra-based Adom FM on Facebook (archived here). The post by Adom FM has attracted nearly 200K views with about 2K reactions in likes, comments and shares.
Another account sharing the clip wrote: “Just before South Africa’s match against Mexico got underway, a flag-bearer proudly carrying the South African flag around the stadium lost their footing and fell to the ground during the opening ceremony.”
Due to the post’s virality and its potential to mislead the public, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim.
Verification
Since the account users claimed the incident happened at the opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, we reviewed videos published by credible sources.
On YouTube, a 15-minute video published by Fox Sports shows the procession of the flags of participating countries.
The model with the South African flag was the first to walk out to the pitch, and at no point was she captured as having fallen to the ground.
That notwithstanding, we analysed the viral clip, compared it with the video from Fox Sports, and found some discrepancies.
The carpet on which the models walked during the official ceremony features a distinctive pattern: the main surface is gold, broken by two evenly spaced vertical blue stripes. From left to right, the layout is gold, then a blue vertical stripe, then a wider gold centre section—the portion the models actually walked on—followed by another blue vertical stripe, and finally gold again. This pattern is clearly visible across all authenticated broadcast angles.
Screenshot of the video from Fox Sports on YouTube. The image shows two stripes of blue on the gold-colored carpet.
In the viral clip, however, only a single blue stripe appears, positioned at the far left of the frame, with no corresponding stripe on the right side. This contradicts the verified stadium layout and suggests that the background was either digitally reconstructed or AI‑generated.
Screenshot from the viral video
Considering that the alleged fall is shown to have happened at the right edge of the carpet, the stripe at that end should have been visible.
The other inconsistency in the videos pertains to the individual carrying the South African flag.
In the viral clip, the individual’s hair, while in a standing position, takes the shape of an ivy cap and stretches over their forehead.
The hair of the individual takes the shape of an ivy cap. Screenshot from viral video.
However, this is different from what is seen in the video from the FoxSports video. The hair of the individual bearing the South African flag does not take the shape of an ivy cap; rather, it leaves their forehead very visible.
Screenshot from FoxSports of the model with the South African flag.
Finally, the sex of the model appears to change from female in the FoxSports video and other clips published by FIFA to being male in the viral videos on Facebook.
Conclusion
The viral video showing that the individual bearing South Africa’s flag at the Mexico opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup tripped and fell is manipulated.
