Beginning his career as a 16-year-old reporter for Italian website FcInterNews.it, Fabrizio Romano is now arguably the biggest and most recognisable football journalist on the planet.
Boasting over 100 million total followers across his various social media profiles, Romano is considered by many to be the gold standard when it comes to verifying rumors. His iconic “Here We Go” catchphrase has now become synonymous with the confirmation of a transfers.
The biggest and most prestigious tournament in world football, the FIFA World Cup, is now underway, and naturally, Romano is maintaining pace. He posts regular updates about the tournament, keeping fans updated on important developments that take place both on and off the field.
The knockout stage of the competition began on June 28, and the action on the field on the field has lived up to the billing so far. Many players and teams have impressed with their displays, while many are already out and must come to terms with an journey home.
While the games have offered no shortage of talking points, eagle-eyed fans on social media picked up on a weird coincidence. For every losing team in the Round of 32, it appeared Fabrizio Romano selected an Arsenal player to use for his post-match announcement graphic.
This trend was clearly visible in Japan, Germany and Sweden’s cases. Soon after Japan lost their Round of 32 tie against Brazil, Romano posted a graphic featuring former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who spent four years at the Emirates before joining Dutch giants Ajax.
In Germany’s case, their Champions League final goalscorer, Kai Havertz, was used on the post-match announcement image after the four-time World Cup winners shockingly crashed out against Paraguay. After Sweden lost 3-0 to France, Viktor Gyokeres was the unfortunate player featuring in Romano’s post.
A few Arsenal fans on social media voiced their displeasure with what they thought was a deliberate attempt by Fabrizio to target the Premier League champions.
What’s his problem? Stop using my club as face of defeat weirdo pic.twitter.com/I36CV6GFB6
— fai (@oonlyarsenalfc) June 30, 2026
he’s deadass only used Arsenal pics for eliminations when possible https://t.co/ruSPEJt4QO
— zac 🏴 (@ModernWrighty) June 30, 2026
On the face of it, such coincidence does definitely raise skepticism. However, it is also important to keep in mind that it is in the best interest of social media influencers in Fabrizio Romano’s position to do whatever it takes to maximise engagement on every post.
That being said, a plausible argument can be made for Tomiyasu, Havertz and Gyokeres being one of if not the most recognisable player on their respective national teams. Therefore, there is a good chance that this is a careful ploy not to target Arsenal specifically, but to generate a high amount of likes, shares and comments on the posts.
This is perhaps confirmed by looking at other examples of elimination announcement posts.
After Ecuador were eliminated by Mexico on Tuesday night, Romano shared an image featuring Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo, even though an Arsenal player – Piero Hincapie – also plays for the South American side.
🚨❌ OFFICIAL: Ecuador are OUT of the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/KcadmCsUgP
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 1, 2026
While the World Cup adventure is already over for the likes of Havertz, Gyokeres and Hincapie, other Arsenal stars are still going strong at the tournament.
Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil), Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke (England), William Saliba (France), Martin Ødegaard (Norway), and Leandro Trossard (Belgium) have all progressed to the Round of 16, while David Raya, Mikel Merino and Martín Zubimendi are still waiting for Spain’s Round of 32 tie against Austria.
