Fifa's Infantino attacks World Cup critics as 'consumed by hate' after Trump, ticket price backlash

Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, has launched an extraordinary attack on critics of the 2026 World Cup, branding them “consumed by hate”. The tournament, which concluded eight days ago, has been broadly hailed as a success but was punctuated by outrage over President Trump’s apparent intervention in the Folarin Balogun incident and sky-high ticket prices. Infantino’s outburst came as the organisation faces mounting scrutiny over the conduct of the event, with the Balogun affair — in which Trump reportedly played a role — and the cost of attending matches drawing sharp criticism.