This Singaporean photographer had his World Cup photo of Cristiano Ronaldo reposted by the football star himself
Edmund Wong’s photo of Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating with his Portugal teammates was reposted by the football star, who later updated the post to include Wong’s Instagram handle.
Edmung Wong (right) is currently covering the FIFA World Cup 2026 as an accredited photographer. (Photos: Edmund Wong)
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Singaporean photographer Edmund Wong scored a career highlight after Cristiano Ronaldo reposted one of his photos from the FIFA World Cup, and later added credit.
The 30-year-old, who is a FIFA World Cup-accredited photographer, recently captured a photo of Ronaldo celebrating with his Portugal teammates after scoring in the team’s 5-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday (Jun 24).
The following day, the 41-year-old football player reposted the image on his Instagram account, @cristiano, which has more than 669 million followers, with the caption “Unidos!” (“Together” in Spanish), alongside a Portugal flag emoji. The post, however, did not initially credit Wong.
Speaking to CNA Lifestyle on Friday, Wong said he had uploaded the image in collaboration with football media agency Pitchsiders while waiting for a flight in Houston before travelling to his accommodation in Mexico.
When he landed, his phone would not stop buzzing.
“I received so many messages from my friends sharing Ronaldo’s post and asking, ‘Is this your photo?!’” he recalled. “I was in absolute disbelief. When I saw the photo, I was shocked and speechless – it was really mine.”
While Wong described it as “an absolute honour” to have one of football’s biggest stars share his work, he soon realised he had not been credited.
“As a football fan, I was elated that Ronaldo had even noticed my photo,” he said. “But as a media professional, I also wanted to receive the credit I deserved.
“I didn’t know who to turn to, so I took a shot in the dark and sent his Instagram account a direct message, knowing he probably wouldn’t read it.”
He also posted a behind-the-scenes reel showing how he captured the image and his reaction after discovering it had been shared by Ronaldo. In the comments, Wong cheekily wrote: “@cristiano let’s discuss payment & usage terms?” followed by a wink and handshake emoji. The reel has since racked up more than 21 million views.
Meanwhile, dozens of Instagram users also commented on Ronaldo’s post. These users, both friends of Wong and complete strangers, congratulated the Portuguese captain on the win while urging him to credit Wong, whose Instagram handle is @muuund.
One commenter wrote: “Great score, Ronaldo! Wonderful moment captured by @muuund.”
Another commented that Ronaldo’s account “absolutely should credit Wong @muuund for this! I’m disappointed they haven’t given him the necessary credit for such a great photo”.
Another said: “The GOAT player is Ronaldo, but the true GOAT here is the photographer @muuund – please credit him appropriately.”
That same day, Wong received an email from Ronaldo’s team, who later arranged a call with him.
“They told me Ronaldo really liked the photo,” Wong told CNA Lifestyle.
“Although they had intended to use images from the national photographers, someone on his team showed him my photo, and he really wanted to post it. Hearing that from his official team really felt insane to me.
“We then agreed to explicitly credit me in the Instagram post and sort out the other arrangements.”
By Friday, Ronaldo’s post had been updated to include Wong’s Instagram handle.
At the time of writing, the post had amassed more than 9.6 million likes and 118,000 comments. Wong’s original post had received more than 100,000 likes.
“From when I first found out, it has been an absolute pleasure for Ronaldo to like my photo and share it on his social media,” Wong said, adding that he is still “processing the whole thing”.
The image has also caught the attention of football media platform 433, which has more than 78 million Instagram followers. Wong later collaborated with the platform to repost his behind-the-scenes reel, captioned: “Taking a photo without knowing CR7 would actually use it.”
Wong is currently based in Mexico for the tournament and said he plans to share more behind-the-scenes glimpses of life as a FIFA World Cup photographer. As a freelance photographer, he has to apply for accreditation for every match he hopes to cover.
He said he aims to photograph as many matches as possible, including the World Cup final on Jul 20. His next confirmed assignments are Spain’s final group-stage match against Uruguay on Jun 27 and Colombia’s match against Portugal on Jun 28, giving him another chance to photograph Ronaldo.
He has also applied to cover Brazil’s knockout-stage match against Japan on Jun 29 and is awaiting confirmation of his accreditation.
Wong photographed his first football match in 2018 during the International Champions Cup in Singapore, which featured major clubs including Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.
After deciding to pursue sports photography more seriously in 2022, he went on to cover the Singapore Premier League, the Singapore national football team and international matches in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and other cities.
This year’s FIFA World Cup marks Wong’s biggest assignment to date. He has covered seven matches so far, with the now-viral Ronaldo image taken during his seventh game at the tournament.
When he learned that he had been accredited to cover the World Cup, Wong described it as a fulfilment of one of his biggest professional goals.
“The atmosphere is just incredible here. It’s not just that I get to watch all the amazing football players I admire play live, but this tournament brings together the best of the best – the best photographers, journalists and videographers,” he said.
“Just being part of it is a dream come true, and I’m eternally grateful.”
Source: CNA/iz
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