When President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino introduced in August that the World Cup draw — which can decide crew teams for the 2026 video games, a few of which can be performed within the Bay Space — would happen Dec. 5 on the Kennedy Heart in Washington, D.C., a video circulated globally displaying a grinning Trump sporting a crimson hat that learn, “Trump Was Proper About Every little thing.”
“It’s for winners solely, and because you’re a winner, you possibly can contact it,” Infantino mentioned, handing the World Cup’s 14-inch, 13.5-pound, 75% pure gold trophy to Trump.
“Can I preserve it?” Trump mentioned. “I’m not giving it again.”
The trade was emblematic of a relationship that blossomed between the U.S. president and the president of soccer’s governing physique as america prepares to host a majority of the matches in subsequent yr’s world event. Infantino, who assumed his put up in 2016, has spent the final yr cozying as much as Trump, making appearances on the president’s inauguration in January and a peace summit in Egypt in October the place Trump helped dealer a ceasefire between Gaza and Israel.
In early November, Infantino and FIFA created a peace prize to be awarded in the course of the draw ceremony on Friday, when nationwide groups can be assigned to 12 teams of 4 every; the official areas, venues and instances for these matches can be introduced a day after. It’s broadly assumed that the prize will go to Trump, who has been coveting public recognition for his perceived world peace efforts.
With that gesture and others, FIFA and Infantino have positioned Trump because the face of the 2026 world competitors, which is the primary World Cup to be hosted by three international locations: Mexico, Canada, and america. But, Trump is unpopular in lots of the eleven U.S. cities and areas internet hosting the matches, together with within the Bay Space.
What’s extra, the president has focused Democratic-run cities and states within the first yr of his second time period, threatening to revoke federal funding and cracking down on immigrants dwelling within the nation illegally. Trump’s federalizing of the Nationwide Guard in cities like Los Angeles and Portland has been met with fierce pushback from Democratic leaders and sparked a deluge of litigation attempting to dam his management of the troops.
Whether or not Trump would possibly attempt to meddle with the standing of a U.S.metropolis set to host video games subsequent yr – most of that are run by Democrats – grew to become an actual risk following a Nov. 17 Oval Workplace press convention. Flanked by Infantino and Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem, the president issued a veiled risk to mayors and governors, telling them to “behave.” Trump additionally mentioned he’d be completely satisfied to ship within the Nationwide Guard to any metropolis that may need their help with preserving soccer followers protected.
“If we expect there’s going to be an indication of any bother, I might ask Gianni to maneuver that to a distinct metropolis,” Trump informed reporters. Trump had steered shifting the World Cup out of “unsafe” cities earlier than.
Pricey preparations for the 2026 World Cup, nonetheless, have been underway for years – the 16 host cities, which embrace three in Mexico and two in Canada, have been introduced in 2022.
The Bay Space Host Committee, which is protecting the price of placing on the six matches at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, is predicted to shell out between $45 million and $50 million. A spokesperson for the group didn’t reply to a request for remark about Trump’s remarks. FIFA additionally didn’t reply to a request for touch upon its shut alliance with Trump.
However U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, whose congressional district encompasses Santa Clara, mentioned that shifting any of the matches six months out could be the fallacious choice.
“If Trump actually adopted by means of on shifting any of the video games, it could trigger chaos and make the occasions much less protected,” he mentioned in a press release. “There was years of planning and coordination going into these video games, together with safety.”
Santa Clara County is certainly one of 9 counties internet hosting matches subsequent yr that overwhelmingly voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris – the 2 different U.S. counties, Miami-Dade County in Florida and Tarrant County in Texas, went for Trump.
That follows a development that Johan Rewilak, an affiliate professor of sport administration at Loughborough College in the UK, has seen. In his analysis, Rewilak has discovered a correlation between soccer’s reputation and Democratic voters.
“There’s a powerful optimistic correlation between voting intentions and people who have an affinity with soccer,” he mentioned. “So, sometimes those that are extra Democratic when it comes to the polling are those that are pro-soccer and help soccer greater than those that are Republican-voting.”
Nonetheless, Rewilak means that FIFA and Infantino, as an alternative of solely catering to conventional soccer followers, may be concentrating on people not sometimes within the world sport. Trump, he mentioned, is “very proactive utilizing social media and whether or not you agree or not, he has plenty of affect.” Lots of his voters “can be like ‘it’s OK for us to go watch soccer video games, perhaps that is for us. If our president may be very pro-soccer, perhaps we ought to be.’”
However Trump’s reputation has plummeted since he took workplace, with solely 36% of Individuals approving of his total efficiency in November – a 4% drop from the month prior, in accordance with pollster Gallup. That quantity is even decrease amongst Democrats, with solely 3% approving of him nationwide.
Josh Woods, a professor of sociology at West Virginia College who has studied the function of politics in sports activities, mentioned in an electronic mail that “world soccer tradition is incompatible with Trump’s nativism and nationalism.” However, Woods added, “given his fondness for the highlight and high-profile sporting occasions, his early present of help for the event and heat ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino could maintain.”
Some Democratic lawmakers, like Rep. Sam Liccardo, aren’t involved with Trump’s proximity – or affect – on FIFA officers like Infantino. In an electronic mail, Liccardo, who beforehand served because the mayor of San Jose, mentioned that he met with FIFA in the course of the web site bidding course of.
“I do know that they perceive that nowhere else within the U.S. gives a greater venue, safer surroundings or extra soccer-crazed followers than we do,” he mentioned.
As for Trump’s feedback on presumably shifting matches, the congressmember doesn’t make a lot of them.
“Everybody within the South Bay is hustling to make sure we’re able to host an epic World Cup,” he mentioned. “The rest is a foolish distraction.”
FIFA has a historical past of working with controversial, unpopular or authoritarian governments. The 2018 and 2022 World Cups, awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively, have been marred by controversy surrounding their project and the host governments’ authoritarian tendencies and human rights credentials. Extra lately, many questions surrounded FIFA’s affirmation of Saudi Arabia because the host for the 2034 event.
A long time prior, a fascist authorities dominated Italy when it hosted the 1934 World Cup and a navy junta presided over the World Cup in Argentina in 1978. In 1986, Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid was broadly booed in the course of the inauguration of the World Cup at Azteca Stadium in Mexico Metropolis resulting from his authorities’s dreadful response to the 1985 earthquake within the metropolis. This yr, Trump was additionally booed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in the course of the FIFA Membership World Cup ultimate.
Rewilak believes folks will attend U.S. video games no matter who’s the face of the event. Living proof: FIFA has already offered thousands and thousands of tickets for the 2026 World Cup. Throughout the World Cup, the “widespread purpose is supporting america nationwide crew, and america may be very patriotic as a rustic,” Rewilak added.
However, Woods shouldn’t be so certain: “Situating President Trump in a distinguished function across the ultimate draw for the FIFA World Cup could be like selecting Nancy Pelosi to drive the tempo automobile for the Indianapolis 500, or making Bernie Sanders a visitor star on a reboot of Duck Dynasty.”
