Trump asks FIFA for an exclusive American World Cup

Trump suggests future World Cup without Canada and Mexico / Photo: Shutterstock

U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States should seek to host another FIFA World Cup on its own rather than alongside Canada and Mexico, and suggested China could serve as a future co-host.

According to the Associated Press, Trump made the remarks during a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in New York ahead of the 2026 World Cup final.

«You should choose the United States of America again. This time, we’ll leave Mexico and Canada out. I was very nice to get them in,» Trump said.

Trump added that Infantino had floated the idea of a future U.S.-China co-hosted tournament, saying it would allow teams to take «short flights between games.»

During the event, Infantino described the 2026 tournament as the greatest World Cup of all time and thanked Trump for supporting the competition. Trump responded by calling it «perhaps the most successful sporting event in the history of the world» and said the U.S. had proven to be a much stronger soccer nation than he had expected.

Future World Cup hosts already selected

Trump is expected to attend the 2026 World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19, where Argentina will face Spain, and is scheduled to present the trophy to the winners.

FIFA has already awarded the 2030 World Cup to Morocco, Portugal and Spain, with opening matches to be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to mark the tournament’s centenary. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 edition, making the 2038 World Cup the next available tournament for a potential U.S. bid.