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The US is co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup in partnership with Canada and Mexico. Donald Trump is firm in denying millions of loyal soccer fans a chance to show support for their favourite teams, due to restrictive immigration policies and the risks of ICE raids.
In 2026, the US, Mexico, and Canada will host the FIFA World Cup – the renowned soccer tournament that attracts around 5 billion fans worldwide, cheering on 48 countries as their teams compete on the global stage.
While this is undoubtedly an exciting opportunity for the US, the World Cup, like the world at large, is not free from the damaging effects of the Trump administration and his strict travel policies.
Since the start of 2025, the US has imposed strict travel bans and restrictions on 75 countries including Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, all of which are World Cup-qualified countries that are fully banned from coming into the country.
Some of these travel bans prohibit anyone from these countries from setting foot in the United States for any purpose, while the most common ones prohibit their respective nationals from applying for immigration-related visas.
Major human rights organizations, including Refugees International, have condemned the Trump administration’s harmful policies as ‘deeply inhumane’ and ‘discriminatory’, pointing out that thousands are being denied potentially life-saving medical care.
The travel bans have inevitably reached the soccer arena, and though Trump has made professional players and staff exempt from the rulings, fans are to be excluded from experiencing the competition’s famed atmosphere in person.
For those who manage to get in, ICE raids and arrests under Trump pose a significant risk. Since Trump became president in January 2025, cities and towns across the US have been flooded by violent raids, leaving millions fearing for their lives and their neighbours.
Despite claiming to only go after ‘criminals’, ICE has shown that they have no issue arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants with no criminal history, as well as illegally arresting and detaining US Citizens – many of whom are people of colour and/or speak Spanish.
Several human rights organizations have expressed concern about allowing the US to host the tournament in the midst of several human rights violations. ‘There is still time to honour FIFA’s promises for a World Cup not tainted by human rights abuses, but the clock is ticking’, said Minky Warden from Human Rights Watch.
Despite the US government encouraging undemocratic, state-sanctioned violence, FIFA recently awarded Trump with their FIFA Peace Prize, a new award that’s supposed to honour leaders working to promote peace. Trump was awarded the accolade for supposedly helping to broker peace deals in the Middle East.
FIFA’s condemnable actions might not come as a shock to many, as FIFA doesn’t have the best track record of putting human rights high on the priority list.
In 2022, the World Cup was held in Qatar and at least 6,500 migrant workers died due to horrid conditions while preparing the tournament. FIFA was called out by human rights organizations for not properly compensating the exploited migrant workers for widespread abuse, wage theft, and unexplained deaths of migrant workers.
