Let’s debrief this summer’s 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.
This summer, millions of fans across the world tuned in to watch the 2026 Men’s World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. We witnessed dozens of memorable moments, from Haaland leading the Viking row with his team, to striker Yoane Wissa scoring DR Congo’s first ever World Cup goal in history, and seeing Keyne Yamal’s excitement for his older brother shine on the screens all tournament long.
This year’s tournament was spectacularly advertised as an international sporting event that would bring people from the four corners of the world together. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino declared this international tournament “the most inclusive FIFA World Cup” on his public Instagram account, and inaugurated the tournament in December 2025 by awarding American President Donald Trump the “FIFA Peace Prize- Football Unites the World”.
As the summer has slowly been brought to a close, so have the 104 games played amongst 48 national football teams across three co-host nations. Yet, a world united by football is not exactly how the tournament went down, and we certainly did not experience the “most inclusive FIFA World Cup” in history.
Amongst Video Assistant Referee (VAR) disputes and controversial red cards (not to mention the arguably preposterous yellow given to Egypt coach Hassam despite making official FIFA anti-racism gesture), widespread criticism erupted long before the commencement of the group stage. Anger from fans across the world broke out due to the sky-rocketing of ticket pricing, making attendance for less affluent fans increasingly difficult. Reuters News cites that despite this World Cup being the most expensive of all time; FIFA offered 130,000 tickets for 60 USD each, compared to the 400,000 cut-price tickets that were offered in Brazil’s 2014 World Cup, “where students got in for as little as 15 USD”. “You’ve got to pay to play” a particularly affluent fan claims, according to Reuters News.
The Middle East Council on Global Affairs heavily critiques the role that the U.S. played as co-host nation of the 2026 World Cup, vigorously comparing the criticism and apparent double standard Russia faced in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 from the West. “In terms of accessibility and affordability, 2022 was as inclusive as 2026 is exclusive, and was far more a tournament for the world than a set of games for wealthy, privileged elites. Average prices for games in Qatar, across all categories of ticket, were up to ten times cheaper than in 2026, and started at US$11 for opening round games”, the Council writes.
Ticket pricing was only one of the many controversies surrounding this year’s football tournament, including travel bans and visa restrictions. The Guardian Newspaper cites that Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was denied entry into the U.S., despite being named Africa’s best male referee last year and being FIFA-accredited since 2018. The BBC reports that Artan “was questioned by immigration officials for 11 hours” and promptly sent home. Furthermore, fans themselves had immense issues obtaining Visas, especially fans who were nationals of Haiti, Iran, Senegal and Ivory Coast– four countries on the U.S. list with travel bans and restrictions. The BBC highlights a dataset depicting countries with U.S. visa rejection rates over 40%, with Senegal at near 75%, and Ghana, DR Congo and Iran at over 60%. But the visa issues do not lie solely within the U.S.
Despite Canada not providing a breakdown of their visa refusal rates, the 2025 visa refusal rate in Canada was 54%, and while Mexico does not publish visa refusal data either, its system requires an in-person application and “of the countries that qualified for the World Cup there are eight- Cape Verde, D.R. Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, and Iraq- where Mexico does not have a diplomatic presence for people to go to.”
To further exacerbate issues, major news outlets such as the BBC, the New York Times, and the Guardian all cite various instances in which Iran’s Football team felt mistreated and oppressed during this year’s World Cup. First and foremost, the BBC notes that the Iran team faced travel restrictions prohibiting the team from staying in the U.S. outside of game-time and their training grounds were switched from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico due to escalating tensions between the American and Iranian governments. This increased travel greatly affected their recovery time between games.
Most notably, however, were the remarks reportedly made by the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security on Iran’s elimination from the tournament following their 1-1 draw against Egypt, as cited by the Guardian: “I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back. I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave US soil, and I might’ve sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance.” The BBC also notes that the Iranian team, amidst their many thanks to Mexico for their hospitality, asks the wider audience: “Did every team truly compete under equal conditions and equal professional standards?”
American actor Tom Cruise delivered a halftime speech during the tournament’s final match between Argentina and Spain, that left a controversial aftertaste for many, according to Yahoo Sports. In his speech, Cruise passionately declares that football is “a force that unites people, that turns strangers into friends and reminds us of what we all have in common…Let us celebrate a tournament that brought the world together. Let us celebrate each other. This is football. This is unity.” Despite Cruise’s somewhat sportwashing declarations, the integrity of football that was intended to unite its players and spectators is being tarnished by political bias and is paving an uneven playing field for the future of the game.
History, as always, shows us a way forward. It was in the ninth century BCE that the tradition of “Ekecheiria”, today known as the Olympic truce, was established in Ancient Greece, the cradle of democracy. This truce ensured that all participants and spectators were provided safety among the Greek city-states by halting conflict and putting politics aside. Here was born the idea that politics should never be entwined in sport. Muddled with scandal, this 2026 tournament has made history for better or for worse, though perhaps not how Infantino intended. More actions towards implementing a higher level of inclusivity ought to be taken in the next four years for the 2030 World Cup co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, which will coincide with the tournament’s 100-year anniversary. Though, as President Trump mistakenly said in response to the U.S. team’s loss against Belgium: “There’s always next year”.
