The 2026 FIFA World Cup is called the World Cup. This name implies a global participation that the visa situation complicates somewhat.
American immigration law maintains a travel ban on citizens of 39 countries. Among those countries: Haiti, Iran, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, all of which have national teams playing in the tournament. The players were granted exemptions and can enter. Ordinary fans were largely denied visas for U.S. matches. They can watch from Mexico. They can watch from Canada. They cannot watch in the country that is hosting the event their national team qualified for by playing two years of competitive football. They are welcome to watch from a different country on a different continent that is also hosting some matches.
FIFA was aware of the travel ban when it awarded this tournament to the United States in 2018. FIFA held the tournament here anyway and has described the situation as a matter for individual governments, which is the phrase organizations use when they want to be seen as neutral while benefiting from an arrangement they had a say in creating.
Robert Kraft paid a $7.8 million security deposit to save Gillette Stadium’s hosting rights because the town of Foxborough, 18,000 people, could not afford it. The federal government had earmarked $625 million for security across all U.S. host cities. The specific timing and distribution of those funds left a town of 18,000 holding a bill it could not pay five days before the deadline. A billionaire saved the town. FIFA called this a success.
Ghana’s captain Thomas Partey was denied entry to Canada to play in Canada, because Canada applies U.S. travel ban logic. A federal judge upheld the denial. Ghana beat Panama 1-0 without him.
FIFA’s official description of this tournament: “the most inclusive in history.”
When the most inclusive tournament in history bans the fans of four competing teams, needs a billionaire to save a host city, and bars a team captain from the country hosting his match, what is the word inclusive doing in that sentence?
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