Fact Check: Did Jackie Young really poke Cecilia Zandalasini in the eye? Fans split over controversial USA-Italy moment

As the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup of 2026 is reaching its concluding phase, the final seconds of Italy’s 55-52 loss to team USA produced one of the tournament’s most debated moments. The internet detectives played the major role to make this discussion eventful.

During the last minutes of Italy’s possession, Cecilia Zandalasini was allegedly poked in the eye by USA’s Jackie Young. Due to this clutch, she missed an important game-tying three-pointer.


But the debate did not start with this narrative initially. Apparently some media outlets like @BricksCenter_ posted a trimmed video of Cecilia’s late reaction calling it the “flop for the ages.” This triggered massive mockery towards her across multiple social media platforms.

Later on, other media channels clarified that Jackie Young really did catch the Italian with several clips now surfacing online. Let’s find out what really happened!

On September 6, USA played against Italy in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, where USA eventually took away the victory. But the win was overshadowed by an incident that happened during the last minutes of the game.

With only a few seconds remaining, Zandalasini had the ball on the perimeter with Italy trailing 55-52. USA’s Jackie Young aggressively closed out, raising her left hand to contest the potential three-pointer. After a few moments, the Italian star appeared to flinch and move her head away while bringing her hand towards her face. She eventually got the shot away but the needed three-pointer was missed. Zandalasini finished as Italy’s leading scorer with 14 points, while Young had 10 points for the Americans in an unusually low-scoring game.


After the match ended, the initial videos which circulated triggered a massive mockery towards Zandalasini as people called her to attempt “the worst flop in the ages.” The clips which circulated online only showed the moment when she released the ball. In the trimmed videos, Young’s hand appears to be away from the Italian’s face when she suddenly recoils. That looked like a fake and exaggerated reaction and led to jokes about a “Bluetooth foul” or “ghost poke.”

The fans and media outlets like @Brickscenter alleged that Cecilia attempted to deceive the officials and wanted an unfair advantage to stay in the game as they were already at a losing point. The post said, “Italian player hit HERSELF in the eye, flopped, then WENT OFF on the refs for not calling a foul.”

As per the viral clips, it did seem that Zandalasini was at fault but there was more to the story. It seems the clip was trimmed and the part where Young actually makes contact with her eye was cut out to spread a wrong and misleading narrative on the internet. Several versions circulated online left out part of the moving hand of Young towards Cecilia’s face before the final shot. One user @bk.analyst (Andrea Pinto) posted the video from another angle to justify the claims.


This means she clearly reacted to something before releasing the shot. One angle, discussed by Sky Sport Basket broadcast, appears to show Young’s fingers moving directly towards the Italian’s eye area. This made the Italian viewers interpret that as evidence that there was genuine contact.

Although, there is no official footage released yet except for Sky Sport Basket.

The officials did not whistle the okay in real time, and they had to make the decision without the benefit of the multiple slow-motion angles that surfaced online afterwards. Zandalasini confronted an official and protested for the missed call with Italy coach Andrea Capobianco stepping in to calm her down.

After the game ended, Zandalasini appeared to regret the confrontation.

She apologised to the referees and Team USA, acknowledging that the emotions of representing Italy had got the better of her. She said she felt embarrassed by the way she reacted after the final buzzer.

Even though that apology is important, it does not mean that she admitted she fabricated the eye-poke claim. Rather, she acknowledged that her post-game behavior toward the officials had gone too far.

So, there was a genuine defensive interaction near her face, and at least one broadcast angle has led viewers to believe that Young’s fingers made contact. Her immediate reaction also happened before the final shot, meaning the most viral cropped clips did not necessarily show the complete sequence.


But there is also no conclusive proof from the publicly circulated footage that Young deliberately poked her directly in the eye.