LONDON: A police security document has revealed several serious threats during the 2026 World Cup, including warnings of suicide bomb attacks targeting the tournament.
The document seen by Informacion.es details several attempted terrorist threats, with the Argentina squad among the teams targeted.
Before Argentina’s match against Jordan, a man is believed to have contacted Dallas airport and claimed he and two others were going to storm the stadium using “homemade bombs and AR-15 rifles”.
The suspect also threatened to attack “police officers and players from both teams”, while also paying particular attention to the intention to kill Argentina captain Lionel Messi.
Argentina’s action against Egypt was also targeted when an individual allegedly wrote on the X platform: “I will enter the Atlanta stadium and blow up Messi with four bombs attached to my body.”
During the match, another man called the police and claimed to have left “three bombs” in trash cans around the stands.
The double threat triggered a massive search operation at the stadium involving bomb disposal experts and sniffer dogs.
Apart from Messi, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo was also linked to a security threat when a FIFA employee reported a suspicious man trying to obtain information regarding the player’s whereabouts.
A die-hard fan also reportedly broke into Ronaldo’s hotel and tried to get into the elevator with him.
After being arrested by police, the man claimed he only wanted to take a selfie with Ronaldo.
Referee Francois Letexier also received more than 6,000 threatening messages via his personal WhatsApp after several controversial decisions during Argentina’s match against Egypt.
Video assistant referee (VAR) official Willy Delajod from France also received angry messages including death threats from Egyptian fans.