The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup isn’t for another eight months, but conflict has already begun to brew.
Alongside Canada and Mexico, the United States hosts the World Cup this summer for the first time in 32 years; however, these plans are now up in the air after President Trump’s statement surrounding the safety of some of the U.S. host cities.
Throughout 2025, President Trump has suffered criticism for actively deploying the military to multiple cities across America; primarily, he focused his efforts on Los Angeles (LA).
LA is slated to host six World Cup matches at the SoFi Stadium, but Trump’s issues with the city may throw a wrench into that. In September, he stated, “It will be safe for the World Cup. If I think it isn’t safe, we’ll move it to a different city.”
The vice president of FIFA, Victor Montagliani, responded to Trump’s comments, saying that FIFA holds final say around moving games: “With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans.”
This conundrum has led to a game of tug-and-war between FIFA and the White House, with both parties making reasonable arguments; while the president obviously holds the utmost obligation to first and foremost protect American citizens, FIFA is an international organization that no single country has final say over.
Despite Montagliani’s statement, FIFA officially sided with Trump; in a statement to ESPN, a FIFA spokesperson declared, “Safety and security are the top priorities at all FIFA events worldwide. Safety and security are obviously the government’s responsibility, and they decide what is in the best interest of public safety.”
If the games were to move, these cities would face devastating losses; volunteers and employees would need to drop out or be relocated, projected tourism income would drop and any money already spent on marketing would go to waste.
As of this writing, there is no official word yet on President Trump’s decision to move the games or where he’d move them to, but it will be very intriguing to see the situation unfold while we, as a country, plan to host the biggest soccer tournament in the world.
