The 2026 World Cup was supposed to be FIFA’s safest bet: a giant tournament across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, built around existing stadiums and one of the richest sports markets on earth.
But FIFA is not just running a football tournament. With 211 member associations, more than the United Nations, and billions of dollars tied to broadcasting, sponsors, and hosting rights, FIFA has become a global power broker in its own right.
That is why the politics around 2026 matter so much. Ticket prices are soaring, immigration fears are growing, fans from some countries may struggle to enter the United States, and FIFA’s close relationship with Donald Trump is raising hard questions about whether sports can claim to be neutral.
The risk is that the biggest World Cup ever, set for June 11 to July 19, may become impossible to separate from the politics surrounding it.
The World Cup Will Be Hard to Control
FIFA wanted a bigger World
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