American YouTuber and famous internet personality Darren Watkins Jr, better known as IShowSpeed, became the target of unfortunate racial abuse during the on-going 2026 FIFA World Cup. The first incident happened on July 3 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami during Argentina’s Round of 32 match against Cape Verde.
IShowSpeed has been doing live streams of the FIFA World Cup 2026 across the North Americas on every single matchday. The 21-year-old streamer, who is famous worldwide for his hilarious videos, was broadcasting live from the stands while wearing a Cape Verde jersey when he was thrown racist remarks by someone from the stands.
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It an individual wearing an Argentina jersey that targeted him with deeply offensive remarks. Speaking in Spanish, the supporter explicitly told the content creator to “go cry to the zoo,” referring and comparing IShowSpeed with an animal and it prompted a direct confrontation in the stands.
“Vai chorar no zoológico”
É assim que os torcedores da Argentina trataram o Speed apenas por usar a camisa de Cabo Verde
O cara ate saiu do personagem, racismo é uma merda pic.twitter.com/hsDMS42aXG
— ABSOLUTE BRAZILIAN (@Absolutebrazil) July 4, 2026
But it wasn’t the only instance. The racist behavior from Argentinian fans followed him into the Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt at the Atlanta Stadium. While streaming from his seat, the YouTuber, who has 57.2 million subscribers on the platform, faced targeted taunts and discriminatory gestures from sections of the crowd.
Fans directed monkey chants and gestures toward him but IShowSpeed did not lose his calm and remained firm with his reaction, saying “what’s wrong with that guy,” on his stream. But the situation grew incredibly tense as thousands of viewers watched the live broadcast.
Argentino fazendo gesto racista “macaco” para o influenciador americano IShowSpeed, o Speed, após a classificação da Seleção Argentina para quartas de final da Copa.
📽️Speed/live pic.twitter.com/xaDnhJ4WQi
— LIBERTA DEPRE (@liberta___depre) July 7, 2026
The racist abuse on the famous Cristiano Ronaldo fan was reported subsequently to the international governing body of football FIFA, who launched an immediate investigation into the matter after the livestream clips went viral across social media.
The governing body released a formal statement strongly condemning all forms of discrimination, hate, and racism. FIFA reiterated that the World Cup is built on unity, diversity, and mutual respect, stating that anyone who declines these values is not welcome in the sport.
Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2026: Were Egypt robbed in their RO16 loss to Argentina? VAR controversies explained
“The FIFA World Cup is a celebration of unity, diversity and respect. It brings together people, cultures and communities from around the world and anyone who acts in a manner that undermines these values is not welcome in our game,” FIFA said in a statement
Under the current disciplinary code, national football federations are held legally responsible for the behavior of their traveling fans. The investigation could result in severe financial penalties and stadium bans for the Argentine Football Association if the governing body proves this misconduct on IShowSpeed.
