Ronaldo said the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be his last after Portugal lost to Spain.
Nur Ibrahim
Published July 8, 2026
In July 2026, after Portugal lost to Spain at the FIFA World Cup, Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo announced to the media that this would be his final World Cup. In response, a video spread online claiming to show a drone light show in Ronaldo's hometown on Madeira Island in Portugal. In the video, drones in the sky show the soccer legend waving goodbye and performing his famous goal celebration moves.
Posts on social media sites including X (archived) and TikTok shared the video, which appeared to show small drones in the night sky in the shape of a figure resembling Ronaldo under a Portuguese flag and text reading "Obrigado 7." "Obrigado" means "Thank you" in Portuguese, and "7" refers to Ronaldo's Portuguese national team jersey number. One post said:
Farewell to the Legend "Cristiano Ronaldo" with Drone Planes In His Hometown on Madeira Island 🇵🇹, After Playing His Last Match Against Spain in the 2026 World Cup
The video is fake and was generated by artificial intelligence. There was also no news coverage of a drone light show in Ronaldo's hometown. Additionally, we found the source of the video was an AI video creator on social media who posts similar content. The creator confirmed to us that they were the original source for the video.
The footage contained multiple indicators of AI generation. Firstly, a cell phone that appears to be recording in the foreground shows different footage with blue checks in its background, not the dark sky visible over the town. Additionally, the colors of the drones' reflections in the water did not match the figure in the sky. A second cell phone recording in the video also does not show the "Obrigado" text and Portuguese national flag above the figure's head.
Using Google's reverse image search tool, we traced the video to a TikTok (archived), Facebook and Instagram account holder named Seihan AI Films. The account has frequently posted AI-generated images of similar drone light shows, including a supposed drone light show farewell to Brazilian football star Neymar over Rio de Janeiro.
@seihanaifilms El adiós de Cristiano Ronaldo con drones sobre Madeira 🇵🇹7️⃣ Comenta "CR7" y te paso los prompts 🎬 Hecho con @PixVerse #pixversecpp ♬ original sound - Seihan AIfilms
Over Instagram direct messages, we asked the account which AI tools they used to make the video. They said they used Nano Banano Pro and Seedance, sharing the prompts they said they used to generate the video. The account's posts sharing the video tagged another AI tool, PixVerse, but they did not confirm to Snopes whether they used it to create or edit the video.
Additionally, we found no evidence that such a celebration for Ronaldo took place on Madeira Island. We looked through Portuguese-language media and found no reporting about such a celebration. Had it been real, the drone show would have been widely covered.
Snopes has covered numerous rumors about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Sources
"Fact Check: No, Ronaldo's Hometown Did Not Host a Drone Light Farewell." India Today, 7 July 2026, https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/cristiano-ronaldo-farewell-video-fact-check-madeira-drone-show-ai-generated-2942572-2026-07-07. Accessed 8 July 2026.
PerryCook, Taija. "12 FIFA World Cup Rumors We've Tackled." Snopes, 22 June 2026, https://www.snopes.com//collections/fifa-world-cup-rumors/. Accessed 8 July 2026.
Record-Setting Ronaldo Says Goodbye to the World Cup. FIFA, 6 July 2026, https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/cristiano-ronaldo-farewell. Accessed 8 July 2026.
By Nur Ibrahim
Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing.
Source: Snopes.com
