The 2026 World Cup begins tomorrow evening at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, with Mexico facing South Africa in the opening match. It is the first step in a 104-match tournament that will run across Canada, Mexico and the US before the final on 19 July.
Millions will fill stadiums and billions more will watch as 48 nations play across three countries separated by thousands of miles, making this the biggest single-sport tournament on the planet. For fans searching for a World Cup Sweepstake, the scale alone is enough to make the opener a global event before a ball is even kicked.
Alexander Abnos said he would not call it “Trump’s World Cup,” even though he thinks Donald Trump is going to try to make it that. That is the friction running through a tournament built to look like a football festival and shadowed by a president who looms over it anyway.
Fifa has worked to build a close relationship with Trump, and his administration has taken an unusual approach to the event. Trump will probably present the trophy to the winning team, a ceremonial role that underlines how closely politics has been pulled into a competition that should belong to players, coaches and supporters.
The tournament now carries two timelines at once: the football begins in Mexico City tomorrow, and the political stage around it is already set. The first question is no longer whether the World Cup will get under way, but how much of the spotlight Trump will try to claim once it does.
