•FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has created a task force to prepare for the 2026 World Cup, which will bring the globe’s premier football tournament to North America at a time when his on-again, off-again tariffs have ratcheted up tensions across the continent.
“I think it’s going to make it more exciting,” Trump said of playing the World Cup amid sharp rhetoric between leaders of the host nations, reports AFP.
“Tension’s a good thing.”
The task force, which Trump will chair, will coordinate the federal government’s security and planning for the tournament, which is expected to draw millions of tourists to cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“It’s a great honour for our country to have it,” Trump said of the World Cup after meeting with officials from FIFA, the international governing body of football.
He also said he would like to attend multiple games during the tournament.
Preparations are ramping up across the continent alongside tensions between the United States and its neighbours as Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs before backing off, spooking markets and leading to fears of a trade war and an economic downturn.
He also speaks pejoratively of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and muses about Canada becoming a US state, which has boosted national pride north of the border.
For 2026, the World Cup will expand to 48 teams playing 104 matches across three nations — the first time the tournament will be split between countries.
Seventy-eight of 104 matches will be played in the US, with 13 games each in Mexico and Canada. As many as six matches will occur each day, with the final to be played on July 20 (AEDT) at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the task force would ensure each of the visitors who travel from around the world “feels safe, feels happy and feels that we are doing something special”.
“So we’re here to create and to make the best show on the planet ever,” Infantino said.
He gave Trump a personalised game ball and unveiled an elaborate trophy that will go to the winner of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will pit top football clubs against each other ahead of next year’s match-up of national teams.
Trump later brought Infantino to show off the trophy at the start of a White House cryptocurrency summit.
The US, where football, or soccer, has grown in popularity but remains a niche sport, represents a major growth area, Trump said.
Infantino likened producing the World Cup to holding three Super Bowls daily for a month, a dizzying security and logistical challenge for the host governments.
The Trump administration will face a second test on the global sports stage in 2028, when the Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. This will be the first time the Games have been staged in the US since Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002.
