{"id":158488,"date":"2025-07-27T12:34:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T12:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-politics-threaten-to-complicate-canadas-co-hosting-of-2026-world-cup-chat-news-today\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T12:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T12:34:07","slug":"u-s-politics-threaten-to-complicate-canadas-co-hosting-of-2026-world-cup-chat-news-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-politics-threaten-to-complicate-canadas-co-hosting-of-2026-world-cup-chat-news-today\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. politics threaten to complicate Canada\u2019s co-hosting of 2026 World Cup – CHAT News Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014 With less than a year to go until the 2026 World Cup, political tensions and U.S. policy threaten to pose problems as Canada, the United States and Mexico prepare to co-host the tournament.
Next year\u2019s FIFA World Cup will be the biggest ever, with the three countries hosting a record 48 teams. Between June 11 and July 19, they will play 104 matches, most of them in the U.S.
With millions of fans expected to cross borders to attend the games, U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s harsh immigration policies \u2014 which include travel bans on some countries, immigration raids and mass deportations \u2014 are generating anxiety.
\u201cThis is all being driven by the United States. And we\u2019re entirely the guilty party here,\u201d said Victor Matheson, a professor at College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts who specializes in sports economics.
\u201cYou could have significant immigration problems with fans and players going across borders.\u201d
The U.S. has travel bans in place for 12 countries and restrictions in place for seven, and is considering banning travellers from another 36 countries.
Though there are exemptions for athletes, staff and families, the unpredictability of Trump\u2019s administration means no one knows for certain what kind of rules might be in place by the time the tournament starts.
Economist Andrew Zimbalist, who wrote a book on the economics of hosting the World Cup, said Trump has the ability to make it difficult for people to travel, but it\u2019s not clear whether he will actually do so.
\u201cI think probably Trump himself might not have the answers because \u2026 he responds very impetuously to changes in his environment,\u201d he said.
Concerns about visas or political opposition to Trump might lead some soccer fans to decide not to attend at all, while others opt to attend the games in Canada instead, Zimbalist suggested. But he also pointed out that the quarter, semifinals and final are all taking place in the U.S.
A spokesperson for Canadian Heritage said Canada could see a million international visitors during the tournament.
\u201cGiven the tri-national nature of the event, it is anticipated that international and domestic travellers will move back and forth between Canada and the United States. The focus will continue to be on the flow of movement, the safety of travellers and the security of the borders,\u201d the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said the agency is working closely with federal government departments, host cities and FIFA \u201cin the safety and security planning for this international event.\u201d
Matheson said fans \u2014 particularly those from countries that have found themselves in Trump\u2019s crosshairs \u2014 have good reasons to be worried.
\u201cI would be very concerned about planning a vacation that has you travelling from Mexico or from Canada into the United States and back. I don\u2019t think that you can guarantee that vacation of a lifetime is actually going to be there for you to actually take,\u201d he said.
He said it\u2019s one thing to be denied entry, another to end up in jail and deported \u2014 potentially to a prison in El Salvador.
\u201cNo <\/b>one wants to go to the World Cup to watch some soccer games and then end up in jail,\u201d he said.
Trump\u2019s moves to impose tariffs on much of the world, including Canada, could also affect the World Cup.
Matheson offered the example of someone who makes jerseys for a country\u2019s team who would want to ship those jerseys across the border with the team.
\u201cTariffs make that type of inventory management pretty challenging,\u201d he said.
Tim Elcombe is a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University whose areas of expertise include sports, politics and international affairs. He said \u201cthere was a sense that having the event in Canada, the United States and Mexico would almost be a bit of a calming of the political waters,\u201d as the cup returned to Western countries.
Instead, he said, the 2026 tournament may be even more politically charged than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Canada is co-hosting one of world\u2019s biggest sporting events with a country whose president has instigated a trade war and threatened annexation. Canadians have cut travel to the U.S. and stopped buying American products \u2014 and it\u2019s not clear what all of that might mean for the World Cup.
While Vancouver and Toronto will host some games, \u201creally this is an American-centric competition,\u201d Elcombe said.
\u201cSo how will Canadians feel about this? Will we get behind it? Will it become the event I think they were hoping it would be?\u201d
In early July, labour and human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to say U.S. policies under Trump pose a \u201cserious threat\u201d to individuals, especially non-citizens.
The letter accused FIFA of ignoring \u201cthe clear evidence of the significant deterioration of the rights climate in the United States.\u201d
Elcombe said while the United States is likely to take the brunt of scrutiny, Canada is not immune.
\u201cCanada is going to have to be prepared for a very critical eye in terms of focus on some of the issues in Canada from a human rights perspective, because I think they will be exposed,\u201d he said, citing Canada\u2019s relationship with Indigenous Peoples as one example.
MacIntosh Ross, a fellow at the Scott McCain and Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business and Health at Saint Mary\u2019s University, said Canada should put pressure on the U.S. government \u201cto make sure that things happen in a safe or as safe a manner as possible.\u201d
\u201cThe Canadian organizers and the Canadian government need to be very clear about their expectations for their partners in this World Cup and reiterate them and state them over and over again,\u201d he said.
Elcombe noted Infantino, who has \u201cvery much established himself as a friend and supporter of President Trump,\u201d could be a key player in determining how the coming months unfold.
It\u2019s difficult to predict what Trump might do, Zimbalist said. If there are political issues in the United States that he wants to distract people from, \u201cyou can see him doing crazier and crazier things internationally to get people\u2019s minds off of what\u2019s actually happening.\u201d
But Trump also has shown that he cares about the World Cup and looking good as he hosts the tournament.
\u201cI think he does care about image and he does care about being on the world stage,\u201d Zimbalist said. \u201cSo I can see that being a significant deterrent, actually.\u201d
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2025.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

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OTTAWA \u2014 With less than a year to go until the 2026 World Cup, political tensions and U.S. policy threaten to pose problems as Canada, the United States and Mexico prepare to co-host the tournament.Next year\u2019s FIFA World Cup will be the biggest ever, with the three countries hosting a record 48 teams. Between June […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}