England's Official LGBTQ Fans Group to Boycott 2026 World Cup in 'Unsafe' USA

England's official LGBTQ group, Three Lions Pride, has announced it will boycott the 2026 World Cup this summer.

The tournament is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

US President Donald Trump has suspended immigrant visas for 75 nations this year, although travel visas are exempt from the new order.

However, fans from Iran, Haiti, Ivory Coast and newly-crowned AFCON champions Senegal will be unable to attend as their nations are on Trump's full or partial travel ban list.

US President Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino pictured (Image: Getty)

There has also been a heightened presence of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents in recent weeks and months.

In Minnesota, ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed US citizen Renee Nicole Good on January 9 by firing three gunshots through her car window.

Videos have emerged of other citizens being dragged out of their cars, with ICE agents showing significant hostility and threatening behaviour towards other members of the public.

Now, the Three Lions Pride group - which has over 350 members - have released a statement in which they condemn what they describe as 'clear human rights concerns' and the fact that they 'cannot guarantee the safety and security of our members'.

"The 2026 Men's World Cup has been in the diaries of LGBT+ fans since the hosts were announced in 2018 - an opportunity for queer fans to enjoy a tournament focused more on the football rather than their personal safety following successive tournaments in repressive states for the LGBT+ community," the statement, posted on their Facebook page, reads.

"That hope, that optimism, is well and truly shattered.

"As ever, our primary concern is about the safety of our members and queer fans worldwide under the principle that fans should be able to follow their team wherever they play without fear of abuse, violence or arrest just for their existence.

"The rhetoric and dangerous rollback of human rights in the US has caused considerable concern to fans who were previously planning to attend the 2026 World Cup.

"There is a fear that our trans+ family would be at high risk of violence and discrimination, our butch lesbian family would be caught in the crosshairs of anti-trans legislation around bathrooms and our queer family generally would be a target for abuse. This is unsafe and unacceptable.

"There are a concerning number of issues that restrict our ability to operate safely as a group during the World Cup, before we add in the various issues of intersectionality and our position of standing for human rights across the board.

"The US administration's travel bans on several nationalities restricts fans from following their team, visa rejections because of social media posts raise freedom of speech concerns, and threats towards our non-white family around potential immigration issues, detention and deportation are clear human rights concerns.

"When ICE agents in the US shot and kill their own citizens, as happened in Minneapolis this month when they killed Renee Good, every fans is at risk of overzealous policing and law enforcement.

"We also consider the scandalous approach of organisers towards ticketing with a policy that fails to consider the needs of fans with disabilities, effectively discriminating and excluding any fans who require assistance or have accessibility requirements.

"Three Lions Pride, in light of the issues around the tournament, will not be having a visible presence at the 2026 Men's World Cup.

"We cannot guarantee the safety and security of our members and cannot endorse the appalling decisions of FIFA around ticketing and safety by tacit acceptance through our visible attendance as a group.

"Today, and every day, [FIFA president] Gianni Infantino should feel ashamed."