When Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announced their marriage on August 11, 2026, they shared just one photo: a close-up of their linked hands, showing off their new wedding bands. The post exploded, racking up over 8.5 million likes in the first hour. ESPN FC reposted the same image on X, crediting Ronaldo’s account.
Soon after, a Community Note appeared under ESPN’s post. It said the original photo Ronaldo shared had brighter lighting and different colour grading than the version ESPN FC put up.Screenshots comparing the two started circulating, and some fans accused ESPN of deliberately editing the photo to make the couple’s hands look older and more worn. To be fair, none of this is confirmed. The Note only points out a lighting and colour difference, not proof of intentional editing, and it’s entirely possible this came from routine re-compression when the image was uploaded rather than any deliberate change. ESPN hasn’t responded publicly to the accusation.
Real Image ESPN☠️ pic.twitter.com/1qLh30idCH
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) August 12, 2026
Still, this didn’t come out of nowhere. For years, a section of football fans, mostly people who support Ronaldo, have felt that ESPN FC’s coverage leans toward Lionel Messi. The wedding photo just brought that older question back into the spotlight. We’re not accusing ESPN of anything here. We’re simply looking at the pattern of content that keeps making fans ask the question.
One example fans often bring up happened in September 2025. Within 48 hours of each other, Messi scored a brace for Argentina in a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela, and Ronaldo scored a brace for Portugal in a 5-0 win over Armenia. Fans noticed that ESPN FC’s video titles described Messi’s performance in glowing terms, almost like it was a work of genius, while Ronaldo’s brace was brushed off as nothing special. Since both performances were similar in numbers and happened just two days apart, this comparison is one of the clearest examples fans point to.
Another older example goes back to October 2019, when ESPN FC posted a quote credited to Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo’s former Manchester United teammate, where he supposedly said Messi was above every other player, Ronaldo included. Van Nistelrooy denied ever saying it, posting simply, “Never said that.” The quote turned out to be fake and had spread across several outlets, not just ESPN. To ESPN’s credit, they took the post down once the denial came out, and Van Nistelrooy even thanked them for correcting it. It’s an old story and it was resolved fairly, but it’s part of why this “ESPN favours Messi” feeling has stuck around for so long.
This debate isn’t something new. It’s been discussed for years across football forums, fan pages, and short videos online. Interestingly, ESPN FC itself once made a segment asking, “Do the media favour Messi over Ronaldo?” which shows the network is at least aware people feel this way, even if it’s never really answered the question directly.
None of this proves that ESPN FC runs a pro-Messi editorial line. What it does show is a pattern that keeps repeating itself: a fake quote here, an unbalanced headline there, and now an unexplained photo difference. Until ESPN addresses these concerns directly, the doubt among fans isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.
