A Trump-shaped shadow looms over FIFA’s grand plans for the 2026 World Cup

Before the 48 teams were drawn into groups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, US President Donald Trump was invited onto the stage to receive a trophy.

“This is your peace prize,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear wherever you want to go.”

As Trump reached for the ribbon and poked his head through its loop, FIFA’s words of praise were still ringing in his ears.

“We honor a dynamic leader who has engaged in diplomatic efforts that created opportunities for dialogue and de-escalation and stability,” said the narrator of a four-minute video celebrating the first recipient of FIFA’s brand-new honor.

“We’re knocking the crap out of them,” Trump said of the airstrikes he had unleashed alongside the Israeli government. “We’ve got the greatest military in the world and we’re using it.”

In between receiving FIFA’s Peace Prize and unleashing Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, Trump authorized military action against ISIS-affiliated forces in Nigeria on Christmas Day and his government executed a military incursion into Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro. He put NATO allies on edge with a threatened takeover of Greenland that was resolved at intense meetings at the World Economic Forum and went back to his trolling of Canada