As the medal ceremony got underway, Cristian Romero greeted some of the officials waiting on stage, but not everyone received a handshake.
Argentina had just fallen 1-0 to Spain in extra time, and Romero, who had earlier left the match with what appeared to be an injury, walked onto the stage to collect his runners-up medal. FIFA President Gianni Infantino stood alongside Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as the players came through.
Romero shook Infantino’s hand, then Sheinbaum’s. When he reached Trump, standing with his hand already out, Romero glanced toward him, looked away, and kept walking without stopping. Multiple camera angles captured the exchange, and the clip was everywhere on social media within minutes.
🇦🇷🇪🇸 | Cristian Cuti Romero le negó el saludo a Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/YKRYFNHU67
— Mundo en Conflicto 🌎 (@MundoEConflicto) July 19, 2026
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Romero has found himself in similar situations before, including after Argentina’s 2022 World Cup victory over France, when one of his on-camera gestures toward Kylian Mbappé also generated plenty of discussion.
Whatever Romero intended, it clearly wasn’t the approach everyone else took. Spain striker Borja Iglesias, who has publicly criticized Trump in the past, still stopped to shake his hand during the same ceremony. That alone made it harder to argue there was any coordinated message from either finalist.
Even so, the handshake wasn’t the roughest part of Trump’s evening.
Earlier, when he walked onto the pitch alongside Infantino before the medal ceremony, loud boos rolled through MetLife Stadium and could be heard clearly on the television broadcast. Later, after Spain captain Rodri lifted the trophy, Trump stayed on stage well into the team’s celebration, remaining in frame long enough that Infantino appeared to gently usher him toward the sidelines so Spain’s players could enjoy their moment.
MetLife Stadium has seen this kind of scene before.
During last year’s Club World Cup final, photographs appeared to show Trump slipping one of Chelsea’s winners’ medals into his jacket before eventually handing it back. He also remained in the team’s celebration photo afterward.
Trump, unsurprisingly, walked away with a very different view of the evening.
Speaking to reporters afterward, he declared, “This was one of the greatest events of any kind ever held. There has never been anything like it, probably in terms of an event. I thought it was incredible. It was four times greater than any FIFA World Cup ever held, and it was probably more like five times, actually, so we are very proud of our country.”
Featured image via X screengrab
