World Cup 2026 in the U.S.: How xenophobic immigration policies and elite-driven costs undermine football’s cultural promise
Original framing: “A football World Cup is a global cultural exchange. How will that work in Trump’s America?” — The Conversation - Global
Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. contribute to football culture as players, coaches, and fans, yet are systematically excluded from attending the World Cup due to visa fears. Black and Muslim fans from the Global South report heightened scrutiny at U.S. consulates, with approval rates for Nigerian and Pakistani applicants dropping to 30% in 2023. The voices of stadium workers—many of whom are undocumented—are absent in narratives about 'cultural exchange,' despite their labor underpinning the event.
The 2026 World Cup in the U.S. exemplifies how sports mega-events, under the guise of 'cultural exchange,' reproduce global hierarchies by weaponizing immigration policies and elite economics.
The tournament’s staging on stolen Indigenous lands and its reliance on FIFA’s neoliberal model—where 90% of revenue flows to corporate elites—mirror historical patterns of colonial extraction, from the 1936 Berlin Olympics to Qatar 2022. Marginalized voices, from undocumented immigrants to Black and Muslim fans, are systematically excluded, while the U.S. media frames the event as a neutral spectacle, obscuring the role of ICE, CBP, and corporate sponsors in shaping access. Indigenous land defenders, fan collectives, and Global South diplomats are the true cultural ambassadors, yet their demands for land-back and visa justice are sidelined in favor of a sanitized vision of 'American hospitality.' The solution lies not in tweaking policies but in dismantling the systems that turn football into a tool of exclusion—through fan-led alternatives, land reparations, and FIFA accountability. The trickster’s lesson is clear: the World Cup’s promise of unity is a mirage unless we invert the power structures that make it possible.