Soccer chief hits back at Trump: “It’s FIFA’s tournament... FIFA makes those decisions”
The President has claimed that he could move the 2026 World Cup to new host cities. FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani said otherwise.
The fall-out from President Donald Trump’s claims about the 2026 World Cup continued on Wednesday as a key FIFA official hit back at the suggestion that the U.S. could change the agreed list of host cities.
FIFA vice president and Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, argued that the relocation of a 2026 World Cup venue due to security concerns is a decision that rests solely with FIFA, the game’s governing body. Speaking at a sports business conference in London on Wednesday, Montagliani said “football is bigger” than political leaders.
“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” Montagliani said. Trump had claimed that he would not allow cities to host a 2026 World Cup match “if a city becomes even a little bit dangerous.”
“With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans,” Montagliani continued. “That’s the beauty of our game, is that it is bigger than any individual and bigger than any country.”
In addition, Montagliani reiterated his opposition to expanding the World Cup to 64 teams for the 2030 edition.
“I don’t see the argument for 64 teams. Not only are we opposed to it, but so are UEFA and Asia,” he stated. “But the Club World Cup was a huge success. We have to figure out what’s feasible, what changes we need to make to the number of teams and the country limits we had for this year.
Trump has so far appeared close with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, notably accompanying him at the final of the Club World Cup earlier this summer. Infantino has appeared at a number of White House events in the build up to the 2026 tournament but any attempt from Trump to make changes to the host cities at this stage could put stress on the relationship.
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