Fact Check: Neymar Was NOT Thronged By Fans While Sitting On The Toilet -- Video Shows A Neymar Impersonator
Lead Stories says: Impersonator Does a viral video really show fans filming Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. in the restroom? No, that's not true: Facial recognition software says it's a different person.
The video features a lookalike who has spent nearly four years impersonating the soccer player. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by @Nowfootball on X on May 20, 2026. It read: Neymar was out celebrating about being called up to the Brazil squad and got followed into the toilet by loads of fans😭😭😭.
The post included a video shot in a restroom. This is what a thumbnail from it looked like on X at the time of writing: Image source: post by @Nowfootball on X. The claim went viral shortly after the 34-year-old Brazilian soccer player was included (archived here ) in the national team representing the country at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
However, the trending clip didn't portray him. On May 19, 2026, the same video was published ( archived here ) on Instagram with the hashtag: #memes. The clip appeared in an account whose bio line indicated ( archived here ) that it belonged to an actor: Image source: Instagram.
This man has been known as Neymar's impersonator since 2022 (archived here ). Lead Stories ran a screenshot from the video through the Amazon Rekognition face comparison tool , which assessed that the man in the clip was not Neymar: Image source: Amazon Rekognition.