On May 18 2022, an Imgur user shared a post that purportedly depicted a football match between teams from Denmark and the Netherlands — with both sides in “Ukraine” jerseys.
The post was titled “Denmark plays with Netherlands :). F#ck ruZZia,” and two images were shown along to it. Both appeared to be screen captures from video footage, and neither image matched any results in reverse image search:
Fact Check
Claim: May 2022 photos show football teams from Denmark and the Netherlands both wearing Ukraine jerseys.
Description: A post on Imgur in May 2022 claimed that the Denmark and Netherlands football teams wore Ukraine jerseys during a match as a show of support. However, the match did not take place in May, but in March 2022, and the jerseys were worn only briefly before the game started, not during the actual match.
Tags underneath the post included “Ukraine,” “news,” “current events,” “fuckputin,” and “standwithukraine.” Its top comment read:
Ukraine wins
However, a Twitter search on May 19 2022 returned no content referencing a recent football match involving Denmark and the Netherlands; typically, football matches generate a lot of discussioon on social media platforms.
Another Imgur commenter suggested that the images were not recent, and critiqued the original poster’s use of a “current events” tag:
That was almost 2 months ago, so … current events?
A broader search led to a Sky Sports “live commentary” page, describing a football match in March 2022:
Netherlands vs Denmark. International Match.
7:45pm, Saturday 26th March 2022.
A March 26 2022 tweet from the Netherlands’ ambassador to Belgium (PJ Kleiweg) featured similar images, describing a “friendly [football] match between The Netherlands and Denmark”:
Kleiweg said that the “Players [wore] the shirt of Ukraine when singing the national anthem,” and “captains wear the Ukrainian flag on their arm.” A March 26 2022 Getty Images entry (“Netherlands v Denmark – International Friendly”) included a caption noting that the players shirts reflected the colors of the Ukrainian flag:
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – MARCH 26: . Players of the Netherlands and Denmark wear a T-shirt in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. during the international friendly match between Netherlands and Denmark at Johan Cruijff Arena on March 26, 2022 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Michael Bulder/NESImages/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
As the caption indicated, the players shirts matched the Ukrainian flag’s colors. Tweets with images or footage from the teams’ official accounts suggested that players changed into standard team attire for the match itself:
A popular May 18 2022 Imgur post suggested that players in a Denmark-Netherlands friendly football match swapped jerseys to show support for Ukraine. The images were legitimate, showing a coordinated show of support for Ukraine by the two teams before a match. The match itself was nearly two months before, on March 26 2022. Images from the match showed players wearing standard game attire, suggesting that the “Ukraine” jerseys were worn briefly before the game started.
- Denmark plays with Netherlands :). F#ck ruZZia | Imgur
- Denmark Netherlands | Twitter search
- Netherlands vs Denmark. International Match | Sky Sports
- Friendly ⚽️ match between The Netherlands and Denmark. Players wear the shirt of Ukraine when singing the national anthems. And captains wear the Ukrainian flag on their arm. ???????????????????????? | Twitter
- Netherlands v Denmark - International Friendly
- #NEDDEN | Twitter
- #NEDDEN | Twitter