Everyone is well aware that BTS holds enormous influence across multiple fields, from arts and culture to economics, society, and even politics. As global icons who shape public perception, K-pop superstars are highly sought after by major international events hoping to benefit from their promotional power.

As for Jungkook’s connection with FIFA, the story dates back to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, just before his military enlistment. Jungkook is the performer of “Dreamers,” one of the official theme songs for the world’s biggest football festival. Not only that, he became the first кσяєαn artist ever to perform at a World Cup opening ceremony. His appearance at that year’s final tournament helped FIFA reach broader au∂ιєnces beyond traditional football fans.

Of course, that was three years ago, and since Jungkook is not an athlete, many people didn’t expect him to have any link to the 2026 World Cup. But it seems FIFA continues to regard him as a symbolic figure for the tournament.

Recently, fans were stunned to discover that a poster uploaded by FIFA on its official account ahead of the World Cup group draw included an image of Jungkook performing “Dreamers” at the 2022 opening ceremony. He was placed next to the image of the кσяєαn national football team, suggesting he was being presented as a symbolic representative of the country.

Following the success of the 2022 World Cup, Jungkook’s image continued appearing in FIFA’s promotional materials, showing that the organization values his global cultural influence. His performance that year clearly left a strong impression, and he is still perceived as a representative of the World Cup’s spirit of connection. However, this detail also surprised many people, since in a poster filled with football superstars, Jungkook—being the only artist—looked rather out of place.

In fact, this was not the original poster FIFA posted online. It appears to be the third edited version released while the organization was dealing with heavy backlash from football fans regarding two global superstars: Ronaldo and Messi.

In the first promotional poster for the December 6 group draw, FIFA showcased several players representing each of the 42 nations that had secured qualification. For South кσяєα, Son Heung-min appeared—reasonably so—but Portugal’s representative was not Ronaldo but Bruno Fernandes. With global superstars like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Messi all included, Ronaldo being the only one left out was ѕнσ¢кing.

Fans reacted immediately, flooding social media with criticism. Ronaldo is a symbol not easily written out of football history: he has scored in five consecutive World Cups, totaled eight World Cup goals, and may become the first player to appear in six tournaments. Excluding him from the poster felt like a provocation to many.

Faced with the intense backlash, FIFA quietly deleted the poster without giving any explanation. But problems arose again with the second poster. This time Ronaldo was included—but Messi was мιѕѕιиg. One positive point is that they removed this “flαωєd” version more quickly but this case is still an unprecedented incident.

Then came the third poster—the one featuring Jungkook—yet FIFA still failed to satisfy fans and instead intensified the controversy. This time, Bruno was removed, Ronaldo was added back and enlarged, but the center of the poster prominently displayed Messi lifting the World Cup trophy. The image seemed to imply “Messi is the real protagonist,” fueling even more outrage.

Netizens also pointed out several nonsensical details. A scene of Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri outjumping Ronaldo to score at the Qatar World Cup was placed directly above Ronaldo. South кσяєα’s representative image was changed from a proper portrait of Son Heung-min to a random team photo, and Jungkook—despite being an artist—appeared awkwardly in the composition.

Fans expressed frustration: “What’s the criteria?”, “This isn’t a promotional poster, it’s a collage,” “There’s no way this was a mistake,” “This is deliberate exclusion,” “Is the editor a Messi fan or what?”, and more.

So far, FIFA has not officially explained the repeated image changes. But clearly, just ahead of the group draw, two of the era’s biggest icons—Messi and Ronaldo—were once again pushed into the center of a “fandom war.” A single poster created unnecessary controversy, and instead of promoting the World Cup, FIFA seems to have plunged itself into deeper trouble.