Time is running out for President Trump’s friend Gianni Infantino to make the hardest decision in his 10-year reign over the world football governing body known as FIFA. After making up a big, beautiful peace prize for the American leader last year, it’s now time to take that and the honor of hosting the 2026 World Cup away from the USA.
It has been discussed and the decision could be somewhat disruptive, costly even, but it would be the right thing to do.
The first World Cup was held almost 100 years ago, when Uruguay took the reigns back in 1930 and other than 1942 and 1946, there had always been a World Cup. In case you’re not too good at history, that was due to the Second World War.
The World Cup isn’t just a big tournament, it’s a time when the world comes together for football, friendship and sporting competition. It’s a global event, so much bigger, dare I say, than our Super Bowl or World Series. But the climate in the USA has been moving away from that message with immigration crackdowns, tourists afraid to enter the country, not knowing if they’d end up with a free room in an American prison and general uncertainty about traveling in a country that has lost its way.
There have even been rumors of potential boycotts from some European nations, and fans are quietly reconsidering participating. Feeling threatened and unsafe when traveling to a foreign country is not a good way to spend your vacation time and hard-earned money.
Infantino faces a problem of his own making. He and his multi-billion-dollar organization claim political neutrality but have been sucking up to the American leader, meeting the president on seven different occasions last year, far more times than the American president had met with any world leader.
But we know what it’s all about… it’s all about the money.
The 2026 tournament is projected to generate tens of billions of dollars in economic output in the United States alone—around $47.6 billion according to some estimates. That alone explains FIFA’s reluctance to do what the world feels must be done. But it also raises the stakes: when profit becomes the primary motivator, then principle becomes negotiable.
Fans are noticing. Ticket prices are soaring. Travel costs are expensive and logistics getting to the matches are being made increasingly difficult. For many, entry into the country is also uncertain.
Even within the U.S., cracks are showing. Cities are complaining about the financial burden of hosting, forced to absorb security and infrastructure costs while FIFA retains the revenue. When it’s over, Infantino will return to his mansion in Switzerland and count the billions in his and FIFA’s tax-free Swiss bank account.
Furthermore, the United States is at war; a war started against a country that qualified to take part in this summer’s World Cup. The USMNT will be there because the country is one of the three hosts. As it stands now, some are encouraging the Iranian National Team not to make the trip across the Atlantic.
Russia attacked Ukraine back in 2022 and is still at war with that sovereign country. FIFA banned the Russians from taking part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and this year’s in North America because of the war they started.
But there seem to be some rules for some and different rules for others. Start a war and get banished from world football, unless FIFA is going to make billions from the tournament.
The tournament can be moved. Canada and Mexico are already set up to host; they would just have to up their game to host the other games, but it can be done. FIFA will not make as much money without the USA involved but it can be done. The tournament can be moved out of the USA. The real question is whether it will.
The longer FIFA waits to make the decision, the more difficult it becomes. Difficult but not impossible. Telling the USA that they can play but they won’t be hosting, would be a shock, but it would also send a message to the world that football is bigger than politics. If this is true, or as FIFA likes to boast in their little ad campaigns, football unites the world, then it’s time to put your money where your mouth is Mr. Infantino.
But as we all know, at least in regards to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, our illustrious president has nothing to worry about.