A viral video showing football star Pelé predicting Brazil's sixth World Cup title is a fabrication created with artificial intelligence [1].
The incident highlights the growing threat of sophisticated deepfakes targeting public figures and the ease with which misinformation can spread through social media platforms.
The video, which circulated on Brazilian social media, appeared to show the legendary athlete making a prophecy about the national team and raising a trophy [1]. However, the audio track was generated by AI tools, and the visuals consisted of edited old footage [1]. The clip also featured a player from Santos raising a trophy, rather than a World Cup victory celebration [2].
Pelé lived from 1940 to 2022 [1]. Because the athlete died several years before the video appeared, the content was immediately suspect to those tracking the legacy of the Brazilian icon.
The director of the Museu Pelé said the video was not authentic [1]. Fact-checkers from the g1 portal of Globo analyzed the clip and said it was fake [1]. The detailed analysis was published on May 26, 2026 [1].
According to the report, the creators of the video used AI to mimic the voice of the former athlete to create a false sense of prophecy [2]. This manipulation was designed to mislead fans by blending real historical images with synthetic audio to create a narrative that never occurred during the athlete's life.
“The audio track was generated by AI tools and the visuals consisted of edited old footage.”
The use of AI to resurrect the voices of deceased figures for misinformation purposes demonstrates a shift in how digital deception is crafted. By leveraging the emotional connection fans have with a cultural icon like Pelé, creators can bypass critical thinking and trigger rapid sharing, making the role of institutional fact-checking and museum archives essential for preserving historical truth.
