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Sergio Ramos has caused widespread controversy after he shared a picture on Instagram of him hugging Argentina captain Lionel Messi, his former teammate at Paris Saint-Germain. At first glance, the image seemed real.
But later, followers discovered it was created by artificial intelligence to commemorate a moment between him and Lionel Messi after the 2026 World Cup final.
Because of this, many believed that the hug between Ramos and Messi did not happen, but a video released later showed that it was real, but no photos were taken to document the moment, so the former La Roja star used an AI-altered image on his Instagram.
What indicated that the image used in Ramos’ account had been altered was the appearance of several notes on the design of Messi’s shirt with the Argentina national team.
Most notable was the lack of an official World Cup badge on the right arm, in addition to the fact that the design was not identical to the official back shirt as it featured two vertical stripes similar to the design of the 2024-2025 season shirt, while the current shirt is based on one wide stripe.
In the picture, Messi’s name and number were also written in an old script, instead of the official script used in the World Cup.
Despite these remarks, the photo has been widely recognized as it documents an iconic moment that brought together some of the most famous stars of the last two decades after years of intense rivalry in Spain’s El Clasico games, before they became teammates at Paris Saint-Germain.
