Thursday’s World Cup matches to have messaging denouncing hate speech

By: The Associated Press Posted: 8:31 AM CDT Thursday, Jun. 18, 2026

MIAMI (AP) — The eight teams playing World Cup matches on Thursday are taking part in an International Day for Countering Hate Speech commemoration, with a pre-match exchange of pennants denouncing such language.

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Captains involved in the Czechia-South Africa, Mexico-South Korea, Switzerland-Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada-Qatar matches will have pennants reading “We Play Together. We Stand Against Hate” with the wording in English on one side and the teams’ native language on the other.

FIFA says it has deleted more than 30 million abusive posts and comments since its social media protection service was created before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FIFA says it deleted nearly 400,000 negative or abusive posts in the first few days of this World Cup — more than it did in the entirety of the 2022 event.

Other stadium activations involving that message are planned during Thursday’s matches.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup