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| Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump (Image: The Guardian) |
As I pin up a 2026 FIFA World Cup wallchart on one of my walls, I reflect on what will come over the next six weeks, as events on the pitch go head-to-head against the battles between various countries off the pitch; some of those countries are competing in this competition - one is hosting the whole thing.
When it was decided that the United States would co-host this World Cup with Canada and Mexico, it was 2018, and Donald Trump was in the middle of his first term as US President. At the time, many of us thought that this presidency would be a distant memory - either that he would lose the election in 2020 and be away from politics forever, or he'd win a second term and by 2026, he'd have completed both terms he's allowed to run, and the tournament would be welcomed by someone with a much smaller ego. Well, while he did lose that 2020 election, he didn't get away from politics and here we are, starting a tournament with him in the middle of his second term, with the tournament appearing to be all about him.
On paper, choosing the 'united' American bid over Morocco eight years ago was the first sensible decision FIFA delegates agreed on, when it comes to hosting a World Cup, since 2006. Human rights organisations had raised significant concerns about South Africa hosting in 2010, Brazil in 2014 and Qatar in 2022 over said countries' questionable government records around poverty, diversity and equality. In 2018, Russia hosted (another nation with a highly questionable record about, well, most things), who at the time, 'only' annexed Crimea - now Russia can't compete in any FIFA contest. So FIFA approached 2026 thinking that it would be one crisis taken care of, particularly as the last time the FIFA World Cup took place in the US, Bill Clinton was President and the 1990s was generally a dandy decade for global football. That was when Trump won his second term in 2024 and then FIFA took it upon itself to dig further into crisis-mode.
FIFA do what FIFA do best - addressing crises by creating more crises. President Gianni Infantino, determined to get rid of the doomed reputation his job title had when held by his immediate predecessors, brought his naive enthusiasm and faux gleam by schmoozing the US President, in case he wanted to do something to the tournament that would have really thrown the spanner into the works. Infantino's strategy was to visit the White House and Trump an uncomfortable number of times, bearing as many made-up gifts he could think of - including a 'global peace prize' which was presented to him at the group stage draw, which took place at 'The Trump Kennedy Center' (though, the recent name change is being disputed in the courts right now).
The schmoozing has worked, to a degree, because Infantino and Trump seem to get along. Actually, I'm going to backtrack. Trump doesn't get along with anyone, really. And behind Infantino's grimace is him weeping enough sweat and tears to call for a fresh climate crisis. The relationship appears good enough for the tournament to still go ahead, on time, I'll put it that way. I sincerely wished Infantino did have a backbone by intervening in the visa scandal - not allowing the poor Somali referee to enter the country, despite him due to be officiating matches throughout the tournament, is very poor form.
Trump will inevitably try everything to monetise this huge tournament. It's the biggest World Cup to date, with 48 teams now taking part. At some point this year, that number looked to have been cut to 47, but again, with Infantino's external schmoozing, and internal sweat and tears, Iran will compete. It's been a journey. Over the past four months, Iran has been in a massive military conflict with Israel and the US, with many of the Arab states stuck in the middle - including Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who are also competing at this World Cup. Israel did not qualify.
But with the war ongoing (they're not bombing each other right now, but who knows as I press 'Publish' to this article and immediately after), Iran's participation had been under much speculation, particularly since the end of February. When the present conflict started, the Iranian football federation declared that it was pulling out of the World Cup. FIFA panicked. Then, as the federation gave in and said the team would compete, Trump could not guarantee the safety of the Iranian players and backroom staff - all of Iran's group matches are in the US. In come the Mexican government to save the day saying that its country will be more than happy to house Iran for as long as the country is still in the tournament. With visa dramas in between, Iran can only enter the US on the day of the matches and will then need to fly back to Mexico before midnight. So while fellow group opponents Belgium, New Zealand and Egypt enjoy a leisurely time to prepare for their matches, Iran's will be frantic. But, as a half Iranian football madman myself, so long as we compete, I am okay.
Putting Iran's situation and the visa scandal to one side, one hopes that what happens on the pitches are straightforward - minus the inevitable Video Assistant Referee (VAR) mishap or two. With the expansion, it has given some of the smaller countries an opportunity to shine - so it's great to see Curacao (population 155,000), Jordan, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan take part for the first time. I hope their debuts aren't overshadowed by any off-the-pitch political nonsense.
France is considered the pre-tournament favourites, hoping to do one better than in 2022 when it lost in the final to Argentina. We're also likely to see Argentina's Lionel Messi, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Croatia's Luka Modric represent their countries for the last time, opening the door to the next generation of superstars. I'm backing Spain's 18-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal to be player of the tournament.
So, let's try and put politics to one side during each of the 102 90 minutes, and simply enjoy the six weeks of great football, despite the crazy British Summer Time (BST) kick off times. Uzbekistan versus Colombia at 3am, anyone?
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