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Fact Check
Video of celebratory fireworks at Dubai stadium after India won the semi-final match against Australia, and entered the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Old video from a stadium in Kuwait shared in a false context.
The Indian cricket team entered the finals of the 2025 Champions Trophy after defeating Australia in the semi–final match in Dubai on March 4, 2025. Now, a video allegedly showing fireworks at the stadium in Dubai celebrating India’s win is being widely shared on social media platforms.
Multiple users shared the 13-second-long-video claiming to show celebratory fireworks at the Dubai stadium after India won the semi-final match against Australia. Newschecker, however, found the video to be unrelated to the ongoing Champions Trophy.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
A Google Lens search on the keyframes of the viral video led us to an Instagram Post by @bcarekw, dated December 22, 2024. It featured a slightly longer version of the same clip, and identified it to be from Kuwait.
We found multiple social media posts from December 2024 stating that the video was from Kuwait
Using this information, we searched for “Kuwait stadium” and “fireworks” in Arabic on Google, and set the time frame of the search from December 20-31, 2024.
This yielded an Instagram post by Kuwait-based Al Rai Media Group, dated December 21, 2024, stating “Fireworks lit up Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 26th Gulf Cup. (translated from Arabic via Google).” It featured images of a stadium similar to the one seen in the viral video.
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Subsequent investigation led us to an X post by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), dated December 21, 2024, carrying similar visuals of fireworks at a stadium. “Artistic and heritage shows during the opening ceremony of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Championship (translated from Arabic via Google),” the post stated.
On comparing the images of the stadium featured in the X post with keyframes of the viral video, we could conclude that both showed the same structure.
We then looked up the stadium in Kuwait on Google Street View, and found multiple Google Images showing the same structure as seen in the viral clip.
Moreover, we did not find any credible reports on such celebratory fireworks at the Dubai International Stadium where the India vs Australia semi-final match for ICC Champions Trophy was played on March 4, 2025.
Hence, an old video from Kuwait has been falsely shared to show fireworks at Dubai stadium after India won semi-finals against Australia, and entered the finals of 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Sources
Instagram Post By @bcarekw, Dated December 22, 2024
Instagram Post By Al Rai Media Group, Dated December 21, 2024
X Post By @kuna_ar, Dated December 21, 2024
Google Images
Vasudha Beri
March 12, 2025
Kushel Madhusoodan
March 12, 2025
Vasudha Beri
March 12, 2025