DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Last week Croatia stunned Brazil winning on penalties and reaching the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar but a video is going viral on WhatsApp and other social media platforms claiming that the joyous Croatians are on streets performing to a band. It showed a sea of people hopping and singing in chorus.
What a way to celebrate -Croatians celebrating after defeating Brazil pic.twitter.com/tsA3QKSXha
— Mukul Agrawal (@MukulAg77304674) December 11, 2022
The claim to the viral video said the “Croatians (Croats) celebrating their entry into the semi finals…!” The video can be seen here and here.
FACT CHECK
When we searched with search strings “Croatia,” and “celebrating” and “FIFA”, several links to an old video cropped up. Some keyframes taken from the video and searched on Google Reverse Image Search showed that the video originally belonged to Spain’s annual San Fermin festival or “San Fermín España” on YouTube uploaded by Navarratv on July 6, 2018. The 40-second video has been used several times in the past to claim massive attendance of people at rallies or political meetings.
The San Fermin or Fiesta de San Fermín festival is an annual festival held at City Hall Square in Pamplona, Spain, between July 6 and July 14 in honour of the city’s first bishop and patron saint, Saint Fermín. It starts with fireworks at noon on July 6 and is followed by the singing of the traditional song “Pamploneses, Viva San Fermín, Gora San Fermín” (“People of Pamplona, Long Live Saint Fermín”). Even the bull race is a part of this festival.
Claim: Croatians celebrating on streets after the country’s entry into semi-finals defeating Brazil
Conclusion: Old video of the San Fermin festival in Spain has been used to pass off as celebrations in Croatia after the country’s entry into the semis of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Result: Totally False — 
