The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has clocked up thousands of air miles attending 24 matches in just over two weeks across North America, with a private jet linked to him taking 27 flights during the tournament. The estimated climate impact from this jet over a fortnight is roughly equivalent to that from 78 people on average over a whole year.
Infantino’s travel schedule has been relentless. He has attended two games a day several times during the group stage, often in cities hundreds of miles apart. On some days he has taken three separate flights. The longest single journey in the first two weeks was 2,800 miles – from Vancouver to Miami on 13 June – after watching Australia play Turkey. His furthest single day of travel was 15 June, when he flew more than 2,700 miles across the US from Miami to Seattle, then about 960 miles south to Los Angeles.
“Fifa president Infantino took 27 flights in two weeks attending World Cup matches, with carbon impact equal to 78 people for a year.”
BBC Verify and BBC Sport tracked a Gulfstream G650ER jet using plane-tracking data, matching its destinations with published photographs of Infantino at stadiums in the same cities on the same dates. Fifa did not respond to requests to confirm the aircraft. The president has been photographed using a Qatar Airways Executive jet before this tournament.
In Fifa's 2026 World Cup sustainability and human rights strategy, Infantino wrote: 'Whether we speak about climate, human rights, diseases or disabilities, we are committed to play our part.' The tournament is spread over three countries – the US, Canada and Mexico – with 16 host cities and an expanded group stage, meaning more matches than ever.
On 22 June the jet flew just 92 miles from Philadelphia to New Jersey. Infantino did not attend a game there but was interviewed the following morning at the Fox News studio in New York before flying on to matches in Boston and Toronto. Another big day of travel was 26 June: the jet left Miami, stopped briefly in Dallas, then continued to Seattle where Infantino was photographed at the Egypt v Iran match. It left Seattle about five hours later, flying 2,700 miles back to Miami, landing the following morning. Infantino watched his 24th and final group-stage match in Miami the next day, where Portugal played Colombia.