By Kurt Johnston / UCSD The Guardian / May 26, 2026
1. FIFA ‘Americanizes’ the game
In about two weeks, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada will host the most bizarre World Cup that FIFA has ever organized. Yes, that includes Benito Mussolini’s personal propaganda tournament in 1934, Vladimir Putin’s personal propaganda tournament in 2018, and the Qatari regime’s personal propaganda tournament in 2022. Take a bow, Gianni Infantino.
FIFA is billing the 2026 edition of the world’s biggest sporting event — soon to be President Donald Trump’s personal propaganda tournament — as an overdue expansion of the beautiful game. The month-long spectacle will span three host countries, increasing to 48 participants for the first time in World Cup history. It will instead be remembered for a number of other first-time inclusions that threaten the sport’s integrity.
Most egregiously, all matches will be paused for mid-half water breaks. This policy might make sense in the blistering Kansas City heat, but it is asinine for games in climate-controlled indoor stadiums — such as those in Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Vancouver. FIFA has claimed that it will maintain consistent weather breaks for fairness. Oh, and broadcasters will be able to cut away from these gaps in play for advertising breaks — reserved only for FIFA sponsors, of course.
The tournament will also feature a halftime show during the final, the first in the tournament’s 96-year history. The show itself is not necessarily a problem — most casual fans will probably enjoy the unusual collaboration between Madonna, Shakira, and BTS — except that it breaks the rules of the sport; soccer’s halftime is a strictly mandated 15 minutes. Ironically, FIFA has also decided to simultaneously crack down on time-wasting, adding time limits to throw-ins and substitutions. Yet the beauty of soccer is that the game ebbs and flows. It aggressively disavows the stop-start style of play that defines advertising-laden American sports. FIFA is cheapening its product — to the detriment of both players and fans.
2. Fans face ticket and travel troubles
The fans may not even show up. Though ticket prices are plummeting on resale markets, FIFA expects spectators to fork over thousands of dollars to watch the games live. The cheapest ticket for the final, stuck in the nosebleeds of MetLife Stadium’s upper bowl, costs over $2,000. The comparable average ticket over the last five tournament finals was $200. American fans can watch the U.S. men — I’ll get to them in a second — play their opener against Paraguay for over $1,000. Trump himself said he wouldn’t pay that much to watch.
Now add the price of war-inflated flights, hotels, and transportation. In Boston, for example, fans will be required to pay $80 to take an overcrowded train to Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium. New Jersey Transit is offering a similarly egregious service. It’s not quite uniform — certain host cities are slashing prices — but attending the World Cup will cost a uniquely exorbitant price relative to past tournaments.
Fans who can afford to fly to the U.S., pay for a hotel, buy a ticket through FIFA’s lottery system, and travel to the game then risk clashing with immigration enforcement officials. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be present at every game held in the U.S., including all quarterfinals, both semifinals, and the final. Supporters from Haiti and Iran, two countries on Trump’s travel ban list, will be barred from entering the country. The resulting chilling effect means that other potential spectators may simply choose to stay home, dampening the cultural exchange that makes the World Cup special.
3. World Cup preview
To prove that sportswashing works, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer some sort of preview of the actual tournament.
Four countries will make their first World Cup appearances: Cape Verde, Uzbekistan, Curaçao, and Jordan — all dark horses that could be surprise knockout round entrants. Fans should anticipate Mexico and Canada to overperform with home-field advantage, especially after disappointing group stage exits in 2022. Morocco, which came close to becoming the first African champions in Qatar, may once again knock on the glass ceiling. Argentina, meanwhile, will look to become the first repeat winners since Brazil in 1962.
However, three European powerhouses are the oddsmakers’ favorites, and for good reason. Spain’s deadly one-two punch of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams devastated opposing backlines during La Roja’s European Championship title run two years ago. England, which — perhaps serendipitously — reached the final in the past two Euros, boasts a stout defense and lethal attack. However, football won’t be “coming home”; France is my pick to hoist the World Cup trophy. Les Bleus will simply be impossible to stop; it would take multiple goalkeepers to keep Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé from scoring — not to mention the likes of Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, and Désiré Doué probably coming off the bench. Unlike the English, don’t expect the French to struggle with the heat.
Now, as promised, consider the United States. The U.S. Soccer Federation intended the 2026 World Cup to be the U.S. men’s national team’s crowning achievement, a coming-of-age home tournament to prove that the Americans’ golden generation belongs on the world’s biggest stage. Instead, it may be an abject failure. It would not be particularly surprising if the team failed to advance out of its group — which includes soccer giants Turkey, Paraguay, and Australia. An out-of-form Christian Pulisic will lead the line for the Stars and Stripes, which will likely start a 38-year-old Tim Ream at center back ahead of untested goalkeeper Matt Freese and behind an injury-ravaged midfield. The hopes and dreams of 2022 have faded quickly; a quarterfinal appearance in a month would be a minor miracle. Not great for a $1,000 ticket.
There is nothing like the World Cup for experiences. I attended the first one in the UUS, then attended with friends World Cups in 2006, in Germany, 2010 in South Africa, and 2014 in Brazil. I support other CONCACAF teams until we play them. The game against Italy in 2006 was probably my proudest. Having lost our first game, we were up against Italy, the eventual winner. We did not sing the US National Anthem. All 22,000 of us in coffins corner yelled it in unison. We tied Italy that day. The only team not to lose to them. It was perhaps the best example, other than the miracle on ice, of the importance of will to win on the outcome. Of course there was Landon Donovan’s last second score in South Africa that may have been the most exciting moment of my fan life. I believe this US team has quality and a plan. It is going to come down in my view how hard they fight.
I had an earlier reply that I don’t think I submitted before my computer popped off in a T-storm lightning strike. This is a partial re-write.
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Gary, I’m glad that you had such a wonderful time flitting around the globe, but most people don’t have the time or funds to do something like that. Too busy trying to keep their financial heads above water…and now with the Grifter President and his FIFA Bribe Master in charge of this year’s games? Charging thousands of dollars for seats in the nose-bleed zones at the tops of stadiums? The very real threats presented by the masked MAGA thugs rounding up anybody they don’t like that will be stationed at all the games to ‘protect’ the patrons (excepting those that they don’t like their looks), and the ongoing boycotts across the world has cut tourism to the US by a rising significant number… Whatever he touches turns to sh*t. That is what he does.
Trump faces WORLD CUP DISASTER as HE SHUTS DOWN TRAVEL!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urs3S4nUWW4
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And to finish out, I leave the reader with this incredibly petty new rule:
FIFA prohibits fans from bringing refillable water bottles into World Cup stadiums
https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-fifa-stadiums-heat-water-bottles-29b2bdf8647cd59923807e62f6cac62d?utm
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sealintheSelkirks
What a sh*t show this is turning out to be already, eh? Leave it to Trump and FIFA’s head honcho Infantino to turn a fun child’s game into a grifting political spectacle…
Anybody else catch bribe-taker and Homeland Security gangster Tom Homan’s little interview? The only sentence he was good at getting out through his mumbling mouth full of oatmeal was that ICE goons were going to ‘protect National Security’ repeated over and over to every question posed by reporters.
Here are some highlights so far:
World Cup 2026 (from Drop Site News):
Visa denials and border detentions shadow World Cup: A pattern of visa denials and border incidents has emerged in the run-up to the World Cup in the United States, which it will host alongside Mexico and Canada.
Iran says around 15 members of its technical and support staff were denied U.S. visas, with several officials remaining in Mexico. The team has, as a result, relocated its training base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, forcing it to maintain a cross-border commute for much of the tournament.
Iran’s football federation announced Tuesday that the United States revoked its allocated ticket quota for its World Cup group-stage matches against New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt—all scheduled to be held on U.S. soil—leaving the federation unable to distribute tickets to supporters who had already begun making travel arrangements. The federation notes that this is a violation of FIFA regulations entitling participating federations to eight percent of tickets per match
Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained for nearly seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, and the team’s photographer was denied entry outright over unspecified “vetting concerns,” according to the Chicago Sun Times.
Members of Senegal’s national football team appeared to undergo unusually strict security screening after arriving in the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to the Anadolu Agency. Footage appears to show players being individually searched on the airport tarmac before entering the terminal.
At least 40 Moroccan supporters were denied U.S. visas without reason, despite having purchased packages and despite their group having traveled to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
FIFA-appointed Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the U.S. at Miami International Airport on Saturday over “vetting concerns,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement without elaborating. Artan was reportedly issued a visa to travel to the U.S. last week. He was held in a small room in the airport for 11 hours and interrogated by border officials before being flown to Istanbul, according to The New York Times. Artan was named referee of the year in 2025 by the Confederation of African Football and was due to be the first referee from Somalia to officiate at the World Cup after. FIFA did not condemn the move, saying that “In line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.” After being denied entry, FIFA subsequently dropped Artan from the official World Cup roster instead of having him officiate matches in the two other host countries, Canada or Mexico.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday responded to growing U.S. restrictions for fans, players, and officials at the World Cup. “The World Cup is supposed to be a celebration of the world as a whole, and some of the decisions that we’ve seen been taken by the federal administration, be it the denial of visas for journalists from certain countries, or the rejection of a visa for a coach of a team, as well as single-day visas for specific foreign national teams, this is anathema to what this tournament is supposed to be about,” Mamdani said during a press conference with Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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World Cup COLLAPSES DAYS BEFORE KICK OFF!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOWNVhgiU_c
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With just days left, the U.S. opening match at the World Cup is still not sold out
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/08/nx-s1-5849905/fifa-world-cup-tickets-prices?utm
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This sure isn’t your experience, eh Gary?
sealintheSelkirks
Sure are a lot of empty seats showing up in these games, while the ‘official’ count is much higher than what is being seen on the videos in the stands. Oh, right, I forgot, all those empty seats were because a huge batch of people all had to go to the toilet at the same time. Or they had to take a break from the heat.
Yeah, they’re all still lying and inflating the numbers that the pictures don’t corroborate. That’s what these people do
Funny how that works, eh? Like everything Trump and his ilk say, don’t believe your lying eyes, just what they tell you to believe and see. And remember, it’s all Biden’s fault!
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This article really lays out some rough, uncomfortable truths:
Seat the rich! World Cup ticket inflation reflects widening gap between haves and have?nots
https://theconversation.com/seat-the-rich-world-cup-ticket-inflation-reflects-widening-gap-between-haves-and-have-nots-284501
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sealintheSelkirks