Poor old FIFA. The football governing body's official print campaign for next year's 2026 world cup got off to a shaky start this month, after it was forced to delete the very first poster from social media. Why? They only went and forgot to include arguably the most famous player in the world.
Featuring players from all 42 qualified nations, the poster, shared on X and Instagram, made Marvel's floating heads designs look tame. But one floating head was notable by its absence: that of Cristiano Ronaldo. And as you might expect, neglecting to include one of the greatest players of all time (not to mention the most followed on Instagram) wasn't a move that went down well.
The poster featured a veritable smorgasbord of famous football heads, from Lionel Messi to Kylian Mbappe. But the only Portuguese player represented was Bruno Fernandes.
🚨FIFA leaving Cristiano Ronaldo off the official World Cup poster is hard to understand. From a marketing point of view, he’s the most influential athletes on the planet, the kind of face that sells a tournament. pic.twitter.com/KMrwjqZjqqNovember 20, 2025
What makes the move even stranger is that this will be particularly significant World Cup for Ronaldo, after he confirmed that it will be his last. "Definitely, yes. I will be 41 years old and I think [this] will be the moment in the big competition," he said in an interview at the Tourise Summit in Riyadh, when asked if this, his sixth, would be his final World Cup.
Needless to say, FIFA's post received an influx of negative comments, and eventually the post was deleted. The organisation hasn't commented on the debacle, so we're none-the-wiser as to whether it was an intentional omission. But between this and the logo-less football shirt we saw recently, the beautiful game has certainly let to some baffling design moments this year.
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