Trump 2.0: Possible impact on World Cup 2026 in the US

The co-hosts of football's biggest event are squabbling and fans wonder if a trip to the US will bring more pain than pleasure.

- Jeremy Au Yong

When the US was first announced as one of the host countries for the 2026 World Cup, many football fans—myself included—naturally had the same concern: "Does this mean we have to call the sport 'soccer' during the tournament?"

That was, of course, many years ago. The world looked different then. Today, as we contemplate a World Cup that is just over a year away, what Americans might deem to call a sport that predominantly features feet kicking a ball suddenly seems like a trifling concern.

These days, concerns are more along the lines of: "I want to go support my team but have tattoos. What are the chances of me ending up accidentally confined to an El Salvadorian gulag?" I am exaggerating here, but I don't know by how much.

The point is, if we were to extrapolate from what is happening right now, we could be in for a bit of a complicated tournament. For instance, because the US isn't currently on the best terms with co-hosts Canada and Mexico, we could be set for the first World Cup where one host nation wants to annex another. It is the international sporting equivalent of attending a dinner party at the home of a couple currently going through a divorce.

I am aware, of course, that scrutiny of countries hosting major sporting events is pretty routine. Much was said about China ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and also about the two most recent World Cup hosts—Qatar and Russia.

On that same note, I think it is also worth mentioning that countries with far more problematic politics have hosted World Cups. The 1978 World Cup in a junta-run Argentina comes to mind. That junta has been accused of torture, murder and disappearing around 30,000 people. I will not even come close to suggesting that the US is running concentration camps, not yet anyway.