A viral video viewed millions of times online falsely claims to show Algerian football fans chanting against Lionel Messi ahead of Argentina and Algeria’s opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Kansas City.

Social media posts alleged that supporters were chanting: “Messi is the enemy of Allah, Allah is on our side, and Algeria will destroy the infidel nation of Argentina” before last week’s game. The video was even shared by French far-right politician Jean Messiha.

While an Arabic chant can be heard over footage showing large crowds of Algerian fans, the lyrics have nothing to do with Messi, Argentina, or football. In reality, the chant refers to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and has been widely known across the Arab world for more than a decade.

The original lyrics translate as: “There is no God but Allah, Mohammed is his messenger, Sisi is the enemy of God.” There is no mention of Lionel Messi, Argentina, or any threat to “annihilate” the South American nation.

The chant is political in nature and predates the 2026 World Cup by many years. It is believed to have emerged in Egypt following the 2013 military coup that ousted former president Mohammed Morsi before spreading throughout North Africa and the Arab world as an anti-oppression chant.

The misinformation appears to exploit the phonetic similarity between “Sisi” and “Messi” to falsely suggest Algerian fans were targeting the Argentine captain.

Further investigation shows the audio used in the viral clip was not recorded at the World Cup at all. The soundtrack matches audio from a protest in Algeria that was uploaded to YouTube six years ago, demonstrating the chant’s long-standing use across the region.

The video circulating online is therefore a misleading montage, created by combining unrelated footage and audio.

The footage itself was also not filmed before Algeria’s World Cup match against Argentina in Kansas City, despite widespread claims online. At around the 12-second mark, two prominent retail stores – Zara and H&M – are visible in the background. Using those landmarks, the FRANCE 24 Observers found the footage can be geolocated to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The video was in fact recorded on June 3, when Algeria played a friendly match against the Netherlands, not during the World Cup and not in the presence of Argentina.

Overall, neither the footage nor the audio is connected to Lionel Messi or Argentina. Instead, an old political chant and unrelated fan footage were stitched together to create a misleading narrative across social media to target Messi and Algerian fans.

Vedika Bahl fact-checks in Truth or Fake.