The joint World Cup goes from unity to acrimony thanks to the prices

By Howard Fendrich, national writer AP

Washington (AP) – Seven years ago, when a joint offer from the United States, Canada and Mexico received the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by prices – yes, at the time too! – And a proposed border wall was passed over in silence because of the long -standing political and economic alliances of the neighbors.

“The unity of the three nations” was the primordial theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then president of the American Football Federation. “A powerful message,” he called it.

Well, here we are now, with the football showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and President Donald Trump in office – inciting commercial wars between the neighbors, not to mention the whole world, taking prices that come, then start, then come back, with more promises, including what the Republican calls “reciprocal prices” from Wednesday.

It is difficult to know how, exactly, the current geopolitical cracks have made all the more austere each time as Trump or those of his administration speak provocatively to make Canada on the 51st state, could affect the World Cup, its organization and its coordination, the travel plans of fans and more.

“Oh, I think it will make him more exciting,” Trump was taken during an appearance at the Oval Office with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last month. “Tension is a good thing.”

Will the world arrive at the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games?

Given that the United States is also preparing to welcome the world for the FIFA club World Cup in June, the Ryder Cup Golf in September and the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028, will the question become: will the world want to come?

And, taking into account the Trump border and visa policies, can the world do it?

Alan Rothenberg, who led the 1994 World Cup and managed to supervise the attempted welcome from the 1999 women’s World Cup as president of American football, thinks that the answers to these questions are “yes”. Stressing the concerns concerning the last two World Cups, in Russia in 2018 and in Qatar in 2022, he noted that the total presence still attracted by 3 million each.

“People love the United States around the world – frankly, we would not have the immigration problem with which we are dealing if it was not – so much of this is government to government,” Rothenberg said. “A football passionate fan will not be retained by this.”

He does not think that one of the host nations will abandon the World Cup, for example, or that other countries could boycott, as happened at the 1976, 1980 and 1984 summer Olympic Games.

“More than anything, they will see it as an opportunity to, perhaps, a rapprochement, rather than climbing tensions,” said Rothenberg.

“In addition, from an organizing point of view, if Canada or Mexico withdrew” from the World Cup, he said: “The United States would take games in the blink of an eye.”

Spectators who flow the American national anthem

However, as the position of the White House on the prices and the Russian war in Ukraine has put Europe in advance and that relations with other countries have become loaded, it may not be a surprise if football stadiums for the American World Cup games offer the same kind of anti-American feeling when spectators in Canada have fntouré “the star-scangled banner” during the 4 nations of Hockey 4 nations in February.

FIFA, the director of football, has not responded to requests for comments from the Associated Press, but Infantino has never hidden his admiration for Trump, which he often demonstrates via social media. They met at least five times since the US elections in November.

Last week, when Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the Olympic International Committee – becoming the first woman in this position – she was asked how she would work with Trump and what she would talk about athletes to travel to the United States for the next games.

“I am dealing, let’s say, difficult men, in high positions since the age of 20,” said Coventry with a little laugh, “and first and foremost, what I learned is that communication will be the key. This is something that will happen early. And my firm belief is that President Trump is a huge sports lover. He will want these games to be important. He wants them to be a success.

Referring to concerns as to whether the administration could deny certain visas of athletes, it added: “We do not relieve our values ​​… of solidarity to ensure that each athlete who qualifies for the Olympic Games has the possibility of attending the Olympic Games and being safe during the Olympic Games.”

The primordial hypothesis among the people involved in the Olympic Games is that Trump will ensure that the 2028 Games are a success.

As the president of the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, “I cannot speak for him, but I think it is the kind of person who probably believes that this is very, very well is a reflection of his management.”

Will Trump’s prices and other policies affect the Football World Cup?

“The most likely result is that Trump’s nonsense will not have an impact,” said Smith College professor Andrew Zimalist, an expert in sports economics.

“I suppose that if relations between Canada and the United States are deteriorating to the point that there are travel restrictions and spending restrictions,” said Ziminalist, “Trump – just as he has exceptions on his pricing policies – make an exception for a month or six weeks.”

The United States and the Canadian Football Federations have refused requests for comments from the PA on how the White House policies could affect the 2026 World Cup.

Gabriela Cuevas, who represents the government of Mexico during meetings with FIFA, said that it considered the prices and the football event “separate problems”, adding that it believes that “the World Cup could be a path to start a conversation”.

Observers tend to agree, claiming that logistics such as security cooperation or city team transport in town – or from country to country – should not be hampered with regard to the World Cup, which should take place in 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

The borders could however become a problem.

“Most of the FIFA must move for this event is not car pieces, and it’s not wheat, and it’s not electricity. It is people. It is your real concern,” Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, told Worcester, Massachusetts.

“What was previously fairly reasonable border crossings could become much more difficult, simply because the two parties amplly their level of inspections and the United States, in particular, reduce government services that allow people to move effectively between countries.”

Regarding fans, the 29 -year -old Mexican businessman, Camacho Pacheco, the 29 -year -old German, said that “football is religion” in his country, so with regard to the World Cup, “I don’t think they care about prices.”

Camacho, wearing the Monterrey Club jersey of defender Sergio Ramos while he is on his way to watch a match in a sports bar in Mexico City, said he does not expect that there is an effect on the World Cup “unless it goes from a trade war to a real war.”

The AP Greg Beham writers in Inglewood, California; Nancy Benac in Washington; Ronald Blum in New York; Graham Dunbar in Costa Navarino, Greece; Eddie PELLS in Denver; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed.

Originally published: April 1, 2025 at 10:53 a.m.