Will the World Cup be an embarrassment for America?

What’s the story?

The World Cup kicks off on 11 June, but it doesn't really feel like America is opening its arms to football fans this week.

Tickets remain on sale, and hotel rooms are empty, with just days to go until the first whistle of the tournament is blown. The cost of accommodation and travel for fans has been massively inflated in an attempt to squeeze as much cash as possible from those who want to attend.

The Trump administration’s strict immigration stance is also causing concern, with Omar Artan, set to become the first World Cup referee from Senegal, denied entry to America for the tournament.

Fan tickets for fans from Iran have also been revoked, with the country’s football governing body claiming there has been "interference of non-sporting and political considerations" in the decision.

"What is new is this idea that the country, and the leader of the country, is bigger than the World Cup, which Trump feels he is," football and politics journalist Joey D'Urso tells The News Agents.

Previous World Cup events held in Qatar and Russia caused controversy due to human rights concerns and political issues, but D'Urso says both still opened their arms to fans in ways America is not in 2026.

"The US is not welcoming the world," he adds.

"Russia and Qatar, for the many sins of those two countries, and those two World Cups, they fundamentally wanted everyone to come and have a good time.

"In Russia there was surprisingly little crime, and people had a good time. In Qatar, alcohol was banned, but fundamentally it was welcoming. The USA isn't."

D'Urso says the World Cup has never before seen a situation where the host country was at war with one of the competing countries, as war continues to be waged in Iran.

Deportation threats loom over fans

When D'Urso says America isn't "welcoming the world", he's not kidding.

In May 2026, JD Vance threatened visitors with a visit from Kristi Noem, who has since been removed from the role as secretary of homeland security and the person in charge of US ICE agents.

An official US government account posted, and deleted, a message saying fans’ immigration status would be checked outside stadiums during the World Cup, D'Urso claims.

"That's the risk if you're a Colombian or Hispanic, you don't want to be seen anywhere near those, because you are an easy target for ICE," he says.

He says there are concerns among Latin ticket-holders about any post-match celebrations if one of their teams win.

"When Latin American teams win at the World Cup, the culture is to have massive street parties, they were doing that in Qatar and Russia," he says.

"But there'll be Colombians, Mexicans – and will that be an opportunity to round up undocumented people? I don't know, but it could be."

Will the tournament be an embarrassment for America?

Banning referees and fans, and threatening others with deportation, may be the tip of the iceberg for America's shame in this year's World Cup.

D'Urso says the country is also facing embarrassment on the pitch.

"Football is the only sphere in the world where the US is a bit rubbish, and could well get thrashed by Uruguay or Portugal," he says.

"I'd also be interested to see the dynamic between Trump and the national team, because the national team in the US is much more liberal, and US soccer fans are left-wing liberal and anti-Trump people.

"In pretty much every other country in the world football is a working-class thing, but in the US it's the opposite, it's come out of cosmopolitan liberals, so it's a very different culture."

Then of course, there's the threat to Trump's ego if the US team goes on to play, and is beaten by Iran – a pairing in which D'Urso says the Middle East team would be the clear favourite.

But will a loss to Iran matter if hardly anyone is there to see it?

There's also the ticket sales situation, with undersold matches set to leave many stadium seats empty in the world's biggest football tournament.

And that's not easy to hide in today's social media landscape.

"These things are probably more pertinent than they were 10 years ago," D'Urso says.

"If there are empty seats at the back of a stadium, you used to be able to hide it in a way you can't now."

He says America also won't be able to hide protests or other unrest in and around stadiums.

"30 years ago you could just not put those on TV, but now everyone's got a smartphone," he adds.

"If there are protests, it will make its way into the world."

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.