Trump Hails 2026 FIFA World Cup as Historic Success, Says US Has Become a ‘Soccer Country’

Washington, July 2026 : US President Donald Trump has declared that the United States has firmly established itself as a football-loving nation following the unprecedented success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which has shattered attendance and viewership records while attracting millions of fans from around the world.

Speaking at a FIFA reception in New York ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final between defending champions Argentina and Spain, Trump said the tournament had transformed perceptions about football’s popularity in the United States.

“We’re not a soccer country. It turned out we were a soccer country, and I think it’s going to remain,” Trump remarked, using the American term “soccer” to refer to football, as the sport is commonly known in the US.

The President described the 2026 World Cup as one of the greatest sporting spectacles ever staged, crediting FIFA President Gianni Infantino, federal agencies and host authorities for delivering what he called a flawless global event.

“The 2026 FIFA World Cup has broken almost every record imaginable,” Trump said. “This is the largest World Cup in history by far, welcoming 16 additional teams and creating an experience unlike anything seen before.”

The expanded tournament featured 48 teams, an increase from the previous 32, with matches played across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. According to Trump, more than 6.5 million spectators attended the tournament, surpassing the combined attendance figures of the previous two FIFA World Cups.

He noted that supporters from nearly 200 countries travelled to North America to witness the tournament’s 104 matches, turning the competition into one of the largest international sporting gatherings ever organised.

The President also highlighted the tournament’s extraordinary global television reach, predicting that by the conclusion of Sunday’s final, nearly six billion viewers worldwide would have watched some part of the competition.

Trump said his administration had worked closely with FIFA since taking office in 2025 to ensure the smooth organisation of the event. More than 50 federal departments and agencies participated in planning and execution, while thousands of law enforcement personnel were deployed to provide security throughout the month-long tournament.

He added that the US State Department expedited thousands of visas for overseas supporters and praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio for facilitating the process. The administration also allocated more than $1.2 billion towards transportation infrastructure and security arrangements to ensure the tournament’s success.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino thanked Trump and the US administration for their cooperation, saying the event had exceeded expectations on every front.

“This World Cup would not have been such an incredible success without you,” Infantino said. He described the tournament as “the greatest human, social and cultural event that mankind has ever witnessed,” adding that it united people across continents through the power of sport.

Infantino revealed that approximately seven million fans had attended matches inside stadiums, while tens of millions more participated in fan festivals and celebrations across host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We united the world in America,” he said. “Everyone who came here enjoyed it, and everyone watching from home enjoyed it as well.”

The reception took place ahead of Saturday’s third-place playoff between England and France and Sunday’s highly anticipated final featuring Argentina and Spain. Trump confirmed that he and First Lady Melania Trump would attend the championship match.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the first men’s World Cup to be jointly hosted by three countries—the United States, Canada and Mexico—and the first to feature 48 participating nations, making it the biggest edition in the tournament’s history. The United States previously hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, while Mexico hosted the tournament in 1970 and 1986, and Canada staged the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015.

With record-breaking attendance, unprecedented global television audiences and widespread fan participation, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has emerged as a landmark event, further cementing football’s growing popularity across North America and leaving a lasting legacy for the sport in the region.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)