There are sporting events and then there are diplomatic arrangements that happen to involve sports. The 2026 FIFA World Cup was awarded to the United States partly because Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino are personally close, Infantino received the Medal of Freedom from Trump in February, and the implicit understanding was that an American-hosted tournament would benefit from American presidential engagement with the thing he had spent years arranging. Trump has not attended a single match.
According to HuffPost, which has been tracking the tournament’s mounting disasters since June 12, the question “Where in the World Cup is President Trump?” has become a recurring fixture among journalists covering the event. The U.S. men’s national team is undefeated: 4-1 over Paraguay, 2-0 over Australia, final group game Thursday in Los Angeles. The president who spent six years ensuring this tournament would happen on American soil has not watched any of his country’s team play. He has, however, posted on Truth Social about oil prices.
The France national team is managing a different kind of tournament. Their manager Didier Deschamps, one of only a handful of people on earth to have won the World Cup as both a player and a coach, flew home this week after the death of his mother. According to GB News, the French Football Federation confirmed the departure without further details. The players are expected to dedicate Friday’s match to him. Football correctly paused for a dead mother. FIFA did not comment, because commenting on human situations requires FIFA to acknowledge that its tournament is generating them.
A separate player, at a separate match, was loudly booed by fans throughout the game over rape and sexual assault charges that have not produced a conviction. He played. His team won. The booing was sustained and vigorous. FIFA has not commented on this either. FIFA’s approach to situations that require commenting is to schedule a working group after the situation has resolved itself through embarrassment.
The tournament FIFA described as “the most inclusive in history” has so far produced a presidential no-show, a manager flying home for a funeral, fans booing a player over charges, and a fan visa ban covering 39 countries. It also has genuinely excellent football. Both things are true, which is what FIFA is counting on.
When the president who arranged a tournament has not attended it, and the tournament is generating its own disasters at a rate that would embarrass a less self-satisfied organization than FIFA, who is in charge of what?
Sources
HuffPost: 2026 FIFA World Cup Live Updates
GB News: Didier Deschamps flies back from World Cup after death of his mother
