Donald Trump: US president will move World Cup matches from ‘unsafe’ host cities
US President Donald Trump says he will move the 2026 World Cup matches from all the cities which they believe are not sure.
Eleven American cities are expected to host matches during the 48 team tournament next summer, which will be co-organized by Canada and Mexico.
The United States will host 78 of the 104 matches, including the final.
The world director organ that FIFA is responsible for organizing the tournament and selection of host cities, and any change now – or at a later stage – would be confronted with logistical challenges.
It is also not known if Trump has the power to make such changes, although he has a close working relationship with its President Gianni Infantino and is president of the World Cup working group.
“It will be safe for the World Cup,” Trump told journalists in the oval office. “If I think it’s not sure, we will move it to another city.”
The 11 host cities in the United States are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York / New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Trump was specifically asked about the matches in the democratic cities of Seattle and San Francisco. The two should accommodate six games.
He also mentioned Los Angeles – another democratic bastion, which will host the 2028 Olympic Games and eight games next year.
“If a city, we think we are even a little dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympic Games, but for the World Cup in particular, because they play in so many cities, we do not allow it. We will move it a little,” he said.
Trump made the fight against crime a central part of his program. Last month, he deployed troops from the National Guard and Federal Officers in Washington DC, despite figures showing a drop in crime since he increased in 2023.
He said he also planned to send troops to Memphis and Chicago.
In June, he ordered 2,000 national guards from Los Angeles to deal with the troubles on raids on undocumented migrants.
The draw for the group phase of the World Cup is scheduled for December 5 in Washington DC.
The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19.
It was not the first time that Trump has been talking about the World Cup.
In May, he said that the opportunity for Russia to play the tournament could be an “incentive” to end the war in Ukraine.
It is despite the national Russian football team forbidden of international competition by FIFA and UEFA since the invasion of the country of Ukraine in 2022, and the qualification for the World Cup having already started.
In March, he said that political and economic tensions between the United States and the co-animators of Canada and Mexico would be good for the tournament.
This came after imposing prices – taxes billed on goods imported from other countries – on the two neighbors of the United States.
