Donald Trump Makes Major World Cup Threat Minutes After England Qualify
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that he would contact FIFA President Gianni Infantino if he felt there were “unsafe conditions” in one of the host cities ahead of the 2026 World Cup, as well as claiming he’d do the same before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
England ensured their place at the 2026 World Cup with a convincing 5-0 victory against Latvia in Riga, with Antony Gordon's strike, Harry Kane's brace and Eberechi Eze’s goal alongside Maksims Tonisevs’ own goal securing the points for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
The Three Lions were the first European nation to confirm their spot at the tournament, which will take place across Canada, Mexico and the USA between June and July next summer.
11 US cities – Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco - will host games, with the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey set to host the tournament’s final on July 19, 2026.
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There have been some suggestions that the list of host cities could change due to security reasons, but the decision would be made by the the global football governing body, FIFA, rather than Trump or the presidents of Mexico and Canada.
However, on Tuesday (October 14), Trump threatened to relocate World Cup matches set to be played in Boston, Massachusetts, with the 79-year-old claiming the city had been “taken over” by unrest.
Trump did not hold back when giving his opinion on the city’s Democrat mayor, Michelle Wu, whom he called “radical left”, but did admit she is “intelligent”.
“We could take them [games] away,” Trump said at a White House event with Argentine President Javier Milei.
“If somebody is doing a bad job and I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call [Gianni Infantino], the head of FIFA,” the 79-year-old added.
“And I would say, ’Let’s move it to another location.’ And he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.”
Boston is set to host seven World Cup matches while 78 of 104 fixtures will take place across the US.
He then went on to say he’d do the same thing if similar issues arose ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
“If I thought L.A. was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it to another location,” Trump continued.
“If I had to on that one, I’d probably have to get a different kind of permission.”
Which countries have qualified for 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States.
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia.
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan.
Europe: England.
Oceania: New Zealand.
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.
(Information correct as of October 14, 2025)
Topics: Donald Trump, FIFA, Gianni Infantino, FIFA World Cup, England
Luke Davies