The 2026 World Cup kicks off tonight with the US at war with Iran, a trade war with its co-hosts Canada and Mexico, and 39 countries barred from entering the host nation – a tournament unlike any before.
President Donald Trump, who accepted a Peace Prize from Fifa before initiating the war with Iran that caused a global energy and economic shock, has been deeply involved. He has called for an end to attacks and appeared to call off new air strikes, promising a deal to end the war is close – though earlier he vowed to hit Iran “very hard”. Between the opening ceremony at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca and the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the three co-hosts will renegotiate the USMCA, the North American free trade area.
“The 2026 World Cup is gripped by Trump's trade war, travel bans, and soaring prices, with Iran conflict ongoing.”
Trump’s travel ban, updated by US Congress in January, hits 39 countries with full or partial restrictions. Iran, Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal are all playing at the World Cup despite being on the list. Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was selected by Fifa as one of 52 officials but refused entry to the US over “vetting concerns”. Somalia is on the ban list. Fifa has distanced itself, confirming he will not referee and saying it does not get involved in host country immigration processes.
Fans are feeling the squeeze too. The New Jersey Transit train ticket – normally $12.90 return – costs $100 for the tournament. Some have paid previously unheard-of amounts for what may turn out to be dead rubber games. “Football is nothing without the fans,” the late Scotland manager Jock Stein once said, but fans at this World Cup are being squeezed like never before.
There are fears over high temperatures for athletes and fans in the 16 host cities across the US, Canada and Mexico. Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor, writes that never has the beautiful game navigated such a geopolitical high-wire act. The tournament could even see the US and Iran play each other in the knockout stage on the weekend of America’s 250th independence celebrations.
Whether the World Cup can influence the world’s major economic conflict remains to be seen. But as Faisal Islam notes, the tournament is also a complete shakedown of football’s economics – and one of the most visible examples of how some of the world’s major economies increasingly operate.