FIFA president Gianni Infantino has congratulated Donald Trump on what appears to be his return as US president.
Trump has declared victory and appears to be on track for Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who at time of publication had 266 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to seal victory.
The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the Jules Rimet Cup returning to North America for the first time since 1994.
Infantino met with Trump several times during his first presidency to discuss the World Cup, and to talk about opening FIFA headquarters in the US – which they did in 2023.
“Congratulations, Mr. President!” Infantino wrote on Instagram Wednesday morning.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has congratulated Donald Trump, who appears to be on course to win the US elections
They met several times during Trump’s first presidency to discuss the 2026 World Cup
‘We will have a great FIFA World Cup and a great FIFA Club World Cup in the United States of America! Football unites the world!’
The 2026 World Cup will be groundbreaking for a new format that has sparked much discussion.
There will be a massive expansion and renewal of the tournament, with 48 teams (up from 32) – the three host nations and 45 qualifiers – playing 104 matches (up from 64), a significant increase of around 50 percent.
That growth means a longer tournament and more and earlier/later matches every day in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The first four tournaments in 1930, 1934, 1938 and 1950 saw between 13 and 16 countries participate, increasing to 16 from 1954, 24 for Spain in 1982 and 32 for France in 1998, where it has remained ever since.
FIFA President Infantino was elected on the promise of creating a 40-team World Cup.
He stressed that the £825 million extra revenue and £530 million extra profit this move is expected to generate will trickle down to grassroots football, rather than lining the pockets of the fat cats at the top.
“Increasing the size of teams that can participate will increase investment in football development to ensure teams can qualify,” he said.
The US, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup with 48 teams and many more matches
The Central American trio Canada, Mexico and the United States will organize it in the summer of 2026
The Trump administration promised in 2018 that there would be no discrimination against fans from any country wanting to attend the World Cup.
His own level of involvement with football or ‘soccer’ is unknown, but, rather bafflingly, he assisted in the 1991 Carabao Cup draw at the Saint & Greavsie show.
There will be 12 groups of four teams. That requires a huge number of extra matches (104), instead of the 80 that would have been there with 16 groups of three.
The European Club Association did not support this move due to fears of the effect a significantly larger and longer tournament would have on putting pressure on domestic competitions for clubs.
The 2026 tournament is expected to last 39 days, a week more than in 2010, 2014 and 2018 and 10 days more than Qatar, putting pressure on domestic campaigns. In 2018, countries had 25 days between the end of the domestic season to prepare for the start of the tournament. For 2026, that period is only 16 days.