With long-time Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary long associated with his wit and fiery temper, the larger low-cost airline in Europe has also taken a “talking the shit” strategy to its social media presence over the years.
After Elon Musk called O’Leary a “total idiot” to his 223 million followers, Ryanair reciprocated by holding a “Great Idiots” fare sale in honor of Musk throughout January 2026.
Other targets of Ryanair’s social media mockery have prereviously included Donald Trump, Sydney Sweeney and Leonardo DiCaprio, British Airways and various British politicians as well as, most frequently, passengers who criticize it for poor service or expect premium features on a low-cost airline.
“Can’t wait for the US to lose,” Ryanair trolls Team USA online
The latest trolling, however, came down as Team USA was preparing to play a game against Bosnia and Herzegovina for the FIFA World Cup on July 1.
“can’t wait for the US to lose to a team they couldn’t find on a map,” the airline wrote on social media platforms Facebook and Threads.
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The post was upvoted more than 30,000 times on Threads while another post that came a few hours earlier ribbed at the different way the sport is called in North America.
“Dear America, reminder: it’s football, not soccer,” Ryanair wrote in the earlier post that received more than 20,000 likes.
The U.S. men’s national soccer team ended up winning the match over the Balkan country 2-0 as the airline faced criticism for taking the ribbing “too far” and alienating American travelers who take it during their travels in Europe.
“Dear Ryanair: America is a continent not a country,” reads another most upvoted comment under the post about the name of the sport.
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Ryanair trolls everyone and it’s clearly working
While the Irish airline’s trolling went over as too mean-spirited for a large number of commenters, Ryanair has not been discriminatory toward the U.S. When the German team was knocked out of the tournament by a loss to Paraguay on June 29, Ryanair found a post in which German content creator Finn Agostinelli said he was coming to the U.S. to “let the World Cup adventure begin” and reposted it with the quip that it was a “quick adventure.”
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Ryanair also frequently leans into self-deprecation in social media posts where it mocks its own no-frills model and poor reputation. When one traveler asked the airline whether her dad would come back after taking the airline, Ryanair turned the answer of that depending on “whether he booked return” into a viral reel while the hard landings that many travelers complain about are also a running internet joke into which the airline itself regularly leans in.
While it is hard to calculate how much going viral online translates into ticket sales, Ryanair’s social media strategy has helped it connect with a new generation of young travelers who are most likely to book a cheaper tickets in exchange for certain comforts and amenities.
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