Boycott the World Cup

@boycottusa2026.org

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In the summer of 2026, the USA will partner with Canada and Mexico to host the FIFA World Cup. Join us in calling for a boycott of the USA as a host. #BoycottUSA2026 #Boycott2026WorldCup https://boycottusa2026.org/

Close up photo of Gianni "Johnny" Infantino looking annoyed and a bit dead inside.
Thousands demonstrated in Paris in May of 1978 before Argentina's World Cup. (MICHEL CLEMENT/AFP via Getty Images)
Federal agents, including members of ICE, patrol the halls of immigration court in New York City, on July 24. Spencer Platt/Getty Images – via https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/10/us/icy-roads-immigration-raid-alerts
JUV v WAC 12:00 Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia) RMA v PAC 15:00 Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)
A weather map of the USA for Monday, June 23, showing a heat index above 35°C forecast from Houston to Chicago, and Maine to Florida.
USA Travel Bans & World Cup Nations Map Banned: Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen Banned WC: Iran Partial Ban: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan Partial Ban WC: Venezuela Proposed Ban: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe Proposed Ban WC: Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania
To hold these bullies accountable, we need the world to stand with us. No country should send their team to play when the citizens of 12 among them are banned. No person is safe when agents roam the country and its stadiums masked, asking people to show their papers based on the color of their skin. If what we're witnessing is a precursor to the World Cup, then it has never been clearer that a boycott is necessary.
Fifa, notorious for turning a blind eye to authoritarians, made no attempt to hold this administration accountable. Trump's anti-immigrant policies were known to Infantino when he hailed their "great friendship", even adopting Trump's pet phrase to "make the world great again" because "football - or soccer - unites the world." When asked about the fears around Ice presence at the Club World Cup matches, Infantino said he had "no concerns about anything" except security.
This is consistent with the US's other actions on the world stage, including its withdrawal from the United Nations human rights council, its sanctioning of the international criminal court for issuing arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, its participation in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and its posting of bizarre Al reels to visualize turning the strip into a beach resort. This administration is one that flaunts its white supremacy, ending its refugee and asylum program for everyone
International sporting events, spectacles of recreation designed to distract people from their day-to-day lives, are cultural and political branding opportunities for their hosts. For authoritarians, they have long been used as a tool to distract from or launder stains of human rights violations and corruption - a practice called "sportswashing". Russia, which has a track record of violent repression and Qatar, notorious for labor rights violations, each paid millions in bribes to be able to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 respectively. "This is a new image of Russia that we now have," Fifa's president, Gianni Infantino, said after the tournament there.
FRONT OFFICE SPORTS Club World Cup Tickets Plunge: See Messi for $4 Some fans have reportedly been offered free tickets to games, while one student discount for the opener includes five tickets for $20. BY MARGARET FLEMING JUN 11, 2025 | 03:24 PM
CBP agents will be attending. United States Customs and Border Protection posted this on social media, “Let the games begin! The first FIFA Club World Cup games start on June 14th in Miami… CBP will be suited and booted and ready to provide security for the first round of games.” We asked the agency what they meant by that, and they did not respond. “The messaging that CBP is using is a bit cryptic, it’s sort of alluding that people should have their paperwork in order to attend the games,” said Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “It creates an environment where people are less likely to come watch the games because of just sheer intimidation.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will also be at the games. ICE told us they would be there as part of the security team, but they also included a reminder that all non-American citizens need to carry proof of their legal status.
The U.S. policies cited by the advocacy group include: reported travel restrictions and bans; visa practices that require applicants to disclose their sex assigned at birth and only recognize binary sex categories; the detainment of international students; the deportation of third-country nationals; and the blocking of refugees. Amnesty International, an international human rights NGO, has also voiced concerns for the players and fans travelling to the U.S. In a statement to CBC News, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of business and human rights, cited Trump's mass deportation program and "arbitrary arrests and detentions." He also noted that routine border crosses "have turned into harassment," especially for 2SLGBTQ+ people, religious minorities and people of colour.
Iran for instance, was one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup, but the two countries are engaged in a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions. On Wednesday night, Trump signed an order that would ban people from a dozen countries, including Iran, from entering the United States. It's set to go into effect on Monday. The ban makes exceptions for athletes, coaches and immediate relatives travelling for the World Cup, but doesn't mention fans. Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFA's Club World Cup later this month, golf's Ryder Cup in September and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: will the world want to come, or will they even be able to?
You could argue the United States isn't exactly the most welcoming country for visitors at the moment. There's been a surge of border crackdowns, newvisa restrictions and an overall sense of fear over being detained amid multiple reports of foreigners being locked up for weeks in the five months since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Yet, one of the biggest, most highly anticipated and attended sports events is coming to the U.S. next year: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, soccer's premier international competition.
People should start pulling their visa applications (even applying now comes with the threat of "enhanced vetting") and to not come to the United States for the World Cup. You are entering an airspace where, thanks to government cuts, planes can no longer safely take off and land. Once off the plane, you will be entering an airport that could become your prison. Once you make it through, you are a leaving-your-visa-papers-in-your-hotel-room away from a gulag. Please, for yourselves, for your families, stay away from the United States. As for the players, do not bring your families into the United States. Do not endanger the people you love. It may be difficult to imagine a boycott of the US portion of the World Cup. But if you must see the tournament in person, the wonderful World Cup venues in Mexico and Canada provide an alternative for those who don't find concentration camps "funny."
Hosting the 2026 World Cup in the United States is dangerous for teams, their families, and their fans. And the word is out. A new group-Boycott USA 2026-has emerged to demand that "games scheduled in the USA must be moved or boycotted." The organization is concerned that international visitors may be in danger and that the Trump administration may use the soccer tournament as an alibi for intensifying its deportation machine.