FIFA World Cup 2026: The build-up to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2026 has been controversial. The threats of United States President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on countries, atrocities by ICE on immigrants and even innocent citizens and obsession over Greenland have been the primary reasons behind the backlash against the United States.
Germany & Others Threaten Boycott
In an interview with BILD, German politician Jürgen Hardt (CDU) claimed Germany may withdraw from the Soccer World Cup that starts from 11 June 2026 and ends on 19 July 2026. If this happens, this would be the 10th time a nation or a group of nations have boycotted the football world cup.
Spain government officials have also hinted that the tournament could be boycotted by Luis de la Fuente’s European champions. UK Conservative MP Simon Hoare said Scottish, England and Welsh teams should boycott the world cup to embarrass Trump. Wales would compete in March’s qualification playoffs while Scotland and England have already qualified for the World Cup.
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French MP Eric Coquerel of the left-wing La France Insoumise urged France to boycott the US-leg part of the world cup. Eric suggested the world cup should be moved out of the United States.
Mark Pieth, who chaired the Independent Governance Committee’s oversight of FIFA reform (2011-213), remarked some countries want to stay away from USA. Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA President, remarked the comments of Mark Pieth do make sense.
The United States is co-host for the FIFA World Cup 2026 along with Mexico and Canada.
What Are The Reasons For Backlash Against USA?
Critics have cited the violent immigration crackdown by the Donald Trump administration. They claim the crackdown has led to the killing of many Americans by federal agents in Minneapolis, travel bans, expansionist foreign policy measures against Venezuela and Greenland and broad-based tariffs on the rest of the world.
Ties Of Gianni Infantino With Donald Trump
FIFA President Gianni Infantino shares great rapport with the US President. In December, Infantino presented Trump with a specially created FIFA Peace Prize after the US President lost on the Nobel Peace Prize. In July last year, the FIFA President had announced that the world governing body of football had opened an office in New York City’s Trump Tower.
In 2025, Infantino paid countless visits to the President’s Florida base Mar-a-Lago and the White House. Many see these visits as desperate attempts to make the world cup a success and not an event that would ultimately get tarnished by the controversial politics and rhetoric of Donald Trump.
Can FIFA Disallow USA To Co-Host World Cup 2026?
Technically, FIFA is fully entitled to strip any country of hosting an event. Under FIFA provisions, a country may be stripped of hosting rights that endangers the safety, integrity or neutrality of competitions such as sanctions, war or major travel restrictions. Serious breaches of FIFA hosting agreements or competition contracts could be other possible reasons.
If USA gets stripped of co-hosting rights, it could include massive financial penalties, sporting sanctions, loss of influence in FIFA governance or relocation of future events in addition to reputational effects.
