Old Video of Fireworks at Stadium Falsely Linked to Champions Trophy Semi-Final
This is an old video from Kuwait and unrelated to India and Australia Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final match.
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A video of fireworks being set off from a stadium is going viral on social media to claim that this happened recently after India defeated Australia in Champions Trophy semi-final.
The claim further states that this video shows Dubai International Stadium where the semi-final was held on 4 March.
(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)
What's the truth?: This is an old video and unrelated to the semi-final match between India and Australia for Champions Trophy 2025.
It shows fireworks at Kuwait’s Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 26th Gulf Cup on 21 December 2024.
How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video which led us to several social media posts.
These posts from December 2024 stated that the video is from Kuwait.
Clearly, the video predates the India vs Australia semi-final match in the ICC Champions Trophy which was held on 4 March.
Taking a cue, we performed relevant keyword search on Google and found a news report shared by Al Rai Media, a Kuwaiti newspaper website.
The report carried several similar images of the fireworks and the headline stated that it shows fireworks at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium for the opening ceremony of Arabian Gulf Cup 2024.
” featuring images of a stadium resembling the one in the viral video. We also found an Instagram post by Al Rai Media Group, dated 21 December 2024, confirming it is from the 26th Gulf Cup opening ceremony.
Images from Al Rai.
(Source: Al Rai/Screenshot)
We also found similar images on Al Rai Media's Instagram shared on 21 December 2024.
We also found an X (formerly Twitter) post shared by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), on 21 December 2024, featuring similar visuals of fireworks at a stadium.
The caption stated, “Artistic and heritage shows during the opening ceremony of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Championship.”
We also found several Kuwaiti news outlets reporting on this opening ceremony and carrying similar images, some of the reports can be seen here, here, and here.
We also found reports from multiple media outlets covering the same event (here, here, and here). According to these reports,
These articles mentioned that the Arabian Gulf Football Cup's opening ceremony was held on 21 December 2024 at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait.
To confirm the location on Google maps, we also found an image of the stadium from exterior which matched with the one seen in the video video.
Comparison between the viral video and Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Conclusion: An old video of fireworks from Kuwait's stadium is being falsely linked to India vs Australia semi-final match in the ICC Champions Trophy.
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