Donald Trump Disputes with FIFA Over World Cup 2026

U.S. President Suggests Moving World Cup Matches from ‘Unsafe’ Cities; FIFA Responds Promptly

During the Club World Cup 2025 we noticed that the 47^th American president became really into football. Remember how he stole the golden medal of one of the Chelsea player? That was seen as a joke back then, but now things are getting serious.

In a conversation with the media, Trump promised that the World Cup would be “very safe.” He also stated that he might intervene and strip cities of the right to host matches if they “do not cooperate” on security matters. In particular, Trump singled out Seattle and San Francisco, which, according to him, do not support the immigration policies announced by his administration.

However, the point of view of Donald Trump did not seem reasonable to FIFA Vice President Vittorio Montagliani, who responded promptly: “This is a FIFA tournament, so the federation makes these decisions. With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and will outlast their regimes, their governments, and their slogans. That’s the beauty of our game, it is more important than any individual or any country,” – stated Montagliani.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to take place across three countries – the United States, Canada, and Mexico – and the first to feature 48 national teams. The tournament will run from June 15 to July 13.

The U.S. portion of the World Cup is scheduled to take place in 11 cities. These cities have contracts with FIFA that prevent ordinary termination of the agreements.