Author: Mikhail Ivanov
The biggest, most expensive and probably most polarizing World Cup in history begins today.
It will involve not only 48 teams fighting for the trophy, but also international politics and its main actors, who will try to take advantage of the sporting event for the sake of their reputation.
For nearly 40 days, topics of conversation will be the cost of living in North America, the fear of US immigration authorities and visa restrictions for sports delegations, referees and fans, as well as the echoes of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, which cannot be silenced by the three upcoming opening ceremonies.
And While in 2017 the USA, Mexico and Canada submitted a joint bid to host the World Cup under the name “United 2026”, nine years later it sounds like the antonym of everything we can say about the world today.
World Cup and peace
The date is December 5, 2025, the city is Washington. Shortly before the football delegations find out what the World Cup groups will look like, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino presents US President Donald Trump with the newly established peace prize. The citation states that the recipient must have “taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace“ and “united people around the world”.
Nearly three months later the US and Israel attack Iran. The war, which continues to this day, has engulfed the entire Middle East. Never before has a host country been at war with a World Cup participant.
The players of the Iranian national team have already shown that this will find a place in their participation in the World Cup. From the moment they landed in Mexico, they wore badges with #168 - a reference to the number of victims in an attack on a school on the first day of the war in February. According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry and publications in the American media, the United States is responsible for the attack. However, the American president and the Pentagon have not confirmed this.
And while there is still no way out of the war, a potential one in the group stage of the World Cup could pit the US and Iranian teams against each other in a clash that will likely have more political than sporting implications. And there has been tension for a long time - and on the border of the “penalty box”.
Visa restrictions
Somali referee Omar Artan lands in Miami on a flight from Istanbul. At the airport, however, he learns that he has been denied entry to the country. A year earlier, Artan was elected the best African football referee. According to American authorities, a check has raised doubts about his past.
The case is not isolated. Fans of the national teams of four countries - Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast and Senegal - are completely or partially banned from entering the United States. Those of Egypt, Jordan and Morocco can only apply for tourist visas, and there is no guarantee that they will receive them. All this is part of the American measures against migration - both illegal and legal.
The Swiss footballer Breel Embolo also goes through the restrictions, who was initially denied travel to the US because of an altercation he was involved in in Basel in 2018. In the end, the footballer still got the green light and went to the World Cup.
The Iranian team had to move its base camp to Mexico due to the long-standing uncertainties surrounding the issuance of visas - although all the team's matches will be played in the US. Thus, the unification that the sports forum brings clearly clashes with Trump's border control policy.
The price of the World Cup
When the three North American countries win the hosting of the World Cup, their relations are not smooth, but they are still stable. Trump is a first-time president, and his administration is preparing a trade agreement with its neighbors, which will come into force in 2020.
Eight years later, everything looks radically different. Trump has openly spoken of Canada as the 51st state of the United States, and threats have been made to Mexico to send American troops to fight drug traffickers. Against this background, the unity of the slogan feels like a message from the past.
Despite everything, the World Cup provides an opportunity for diplomacy. The World Cup even coincides with celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the US Declaration of Independence. However, the international media is focusing on something else: how expensive it is to attend football matches.
The most profitable World Cup in history will bring in a record $9 billion for FIFA this year alone. The huge revenues, which surpass those of the Olympic Games, come from television rights, sponsorships, but also from the high prices of tickets, which reach several thousand dollars in the most expensive sectors in the United States and Canada.
According to FIFA, the developed sports market in the world's largest economy justifies this. However, fan organizations do not think so, warning that the World Cup is becoming an inaccessible event.
European favorites
The politicization of the World Cup traditionally does not bypass countries in Europe. Germany, France, Spain and England have high expectations for their teams - not only because of their football traditions, but also because of the dire need of their leaders for any victory - due to their low ratings at home.
One of the latest examples is the one with French President Macron, who used a photo of himself with a raised fist from the “Luzhniki” stadium in Moscow during France's triumph at the 2018 World Cup for years to illustrate economic or political successes.
In 2022, he even allowed himself to go onto the pitch immediately after the end of the World Cup final in Qatar to console the star of the French team, Kylian Mbappe, after his hat-trick in the final against Argentina was not enough to win. At the time, the French media criticized him for crossing the line of what is permissible in an attempt to intertwine football and politics and extract a dividend.
The great absentees and future hosts
The politics of football also leads to Russia, which hosted the 2018 World Cup but did not participate in the last two championships after FIFA sanctioned it for the war in Ukraine. UEFA has confirmed sanctions on Russian clubs for next season.
China will also be absent from the World Cup. The country has invested heavily in sports, and leader Xi is known for his passion for the English Premier League. But according to “The Economist” corruption in the association and the wrong philosophy in the approach to qualifications are among the main reasons why the country did not qualify for the World Cup, despite the increased number of participants from Asia.
Among them are Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup, and for Saudi Arabia, it is due in 2034. The two countries are similar in their massive investments in sports in an attempt to diversify their economies and escape their image as countries with poor human rights records.
To that end, the Saudi Arabian championship has attracted superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in recent years, and fans often say they face a dilemma: whether to support their favorite players or boycott teams backed by authoritarian regimes.
United or divided by sports?
And while dozens of countries are looking to benefit from their participation in the 2026 World Cup, the good news for sports fans remains almost entirely on the football pitch. For the first time in history, they will see the teams of Cape Verde and Curacao in the world finals. The same applies to the teams of Uzbekistan and Jordan. For them, this is a huge opportunity for cultural diplomacy.
The 2026 World Cup is also a record-breaking tournament, with eight players over the age of 40 taking part. And some of the most famous footballers in history - such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer - will say goodbye to the world finals in this edition. The coach of the “Roosters” Didier Deschamps, who led the French team to two consecutive finals, will also do so.
Whether the 2026 World Cup will be remembered for the joy of sport, or for the political context in which it takes place - remains to be seen. And yet: while political victories are experienced more individually, the goal of sports victories is to unite.