Mexico’s national soccer team just sent back over $1 million worth of Rolex watches that U.S. influencer SteveWillDoIt gave them after their 2-0 Round of 16 win against Ecuador at the 2026 World Cup.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) broke the news on July 3, saying the players themselves decided together to return the luxury watches. The goal was to avoid any headaches with FIFA’s ethics rules and their existing sponsorship deals.
In their statement, the FMF wrote:
“La SNM informa que de comĂşn acuerdo nuestros jugadores decidieron regresar al creador de contenido, Steve Will Do It, los relojes que por iniciativa propia les habĂa regalado.”
(Translation: The national team informs that, by mutual agreement, our players decided to return to content creator SteveWillDoIt the watches that he had gifted them on his own initiative.)
The famous user SteveWillDoIt, who goes by Stephen DeLeonardis in real life, turned up in Mexico at their training center named
“Centro de Alto Rendimiento”
Soon after their spectacular victory. They breezed through the group stages with an unbeaten record and then made short work of Ecuador by scoring through Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez.
Steve, who’s huge on betting content and big giveaways, reportedly dropped something like a $2 million wager on Mexico advancing. Once they won, he celebrated by handing out Rolexes to the players and staff. Videos showed guys like Luis Romo and Luis Chávez checking out the watches, thanking him, and even lifting the influencer up in the locker room. The whole haul was worth well over a million dollars.
The clips blew up instantly online. What started as a feel-good viral moment quickly turned into a whole conversation about professionalism, gambling influencers in sports, and potential conflicts.
The main worry was FIFA’s Code of Ethics, especially rules about expensive gifts that could look like undue influence. On top of that, Mexico has an official sponsorship with Hublot as their watch partner, so flashy Rolexes from a third party created an obvious issue.
As of now, there’s no word of any formal FIFA investigation. The federation and players framed the return as a smart, proactive move so they could stay focused on football instead of off-field drama.
Fan reactions have been all over the place. A lot of Mexican supporters loved the gesture and appreciated Steve’s genuine hype for El Tri, especially as an American creator connecting with the fanbase during the co-hosted tournament. Others called it unprofessional and a distraction, feeding into bigger discussions about where to draw the line with gambling influencers during major competitions.
At the end of the day, this whole episode highlights the weird space modern sports now occupy where viral influencer culture, massive gambling money, and strict international rules constantly bump into each other. For Mexico fans riding the high of their tournament run, it’s a reminder that optics off the pitch matter almost as much as results on it, especially with England waiting in the quarterfinals.
The watches went back, the team refocused, and the story keeps rolling. Classic World Cup chaos.
