Messi Was the Most Targeted Man at the World Cup: FBI Report Reveals Death Threats Involving Bombs and an AR-15
An FBI document exposes bomb and AR-15 threats against Messi at the 2026 World Cup. Ronaldo was also targeted. Every threat turned out to be false — but the danger was very real.
The 2026 World Cup was a spectacle on the pitch — but behind the scenes, security forces were on permanent high alert. A police report released by the FBI and the IPCC, and revealed by Marca and the Daily Mail, lays bare the scale of the threats that loomed over the tournament's biggest stars.
Lionel Messi was the most targeted. Before Argentina's third group-stage match, against Jordan, a man called Dallas airport claiming he would storm the stadium with two homemade bombs and an AR-15 rifle to kill the Argentine captain. In the round of 16, ahead of the match against Egypt, a social-media user wrote that he would enter the Atlanta arena with four bombs strapped to his body to blow up the No. 10. During that same match, police also received a tip-off about three possible bombs hidden in stadium trash cans.
Every single threat proved false after thorough sweeps by sniffer dogs — but protocol was followed to the letter in each case.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also in the crosshairs. According to the report, the FBI was called in after a man attempted to obtain details about the Portuguese captain's daily routine inside a hotel in Houston. Local police arrested him two days later. In Toronto, another individual tried to slip into an elevator with the player.
Golmetria's model places Argentina among the title favourites, with a 6.92% chance of lifting the trophy — a number that, in light of all this, takes on a different dimension: Messi reached the quarter-finals under real threat, and yet the Albiceleste kept marching forward.
The World Cup is over. The threats are filed away in archives. But the question that lingers is unavoidable: what does it actually take to keep the world's greatest players safe at a tournament of this magnitude?