Can the 2026 World Cup Still Bring People Together?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest ever, but it is also becoming one of the most controversial, raising serious questions about who gets to enjoy it and on what terms.  

The upcoming 2026 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the tournament, and the first to feature 48 countries instead of 32. It will be co-hosted by three countries, the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with 16 cities involved – 11 in the US, three in Mexico, and two in CanadaFédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has confirmed that there will be 104 matches in total, a large jump from the 64 in the Qatar World Cup of 2022. Most of the games will take place in the US, 78, with Canada and Mexico each hosting 13. The structure has also changed to fit the expansion of the tournament; instead of 8 groups of 4 teams, there will be 12 groups of 4, with the best third-placed teams advancing to an enlarged knockout phase. The World Cup will run from the 11th of June 2026, starting at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, until the final, at the MetLife Stadium in New York on the 19th of July 2026. All three host nations have already qualified automatically as hosts, as confirmed by FIFA’s council( 

Yet, for all this growth in size and spectacle, many of the worries around 2026 are not about the football itself, but about who can actually be there to experience it. The players, staff and officials will almost certainly get the visas and exemptions they need; for them, the borders are unlikely to close. The real uncertainty lies with the fans. Recent decisions by the US government to suspend immigrant visa processing for citizens of dozens of countries, along with a generally harsher immigration climate, may not directly target short-term tourists, but they send a powerful message (Crafton, 2026). Even if tourist and non-immigrant visas technically remain available, many supporters from around the world are left wondering whether they will feel welcome, safe, or even allowed in. For fans from countries already facing long waiting times, complex interviews, or higher refusal rates, planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a World Cup hosted mainly in the US becomes a gamble rather than a celebration. 

This matters because, to a large extent, the audience is what makes the World Cup what it is. Previous World Cups were defined not just by what happened on the field, but also by the atmosphere on the streets, homes, and public viewing areas. In Germany in 2006, fans gathered in public squares and on riverbanks to watch matches on big outdoor screens, creating huge communal parties that became part of the tournament’s identity. In South Africa in 2010, supporters packed into parks, markets, hotel lobbies, turning everyday spaces into football venues. Brazil in 2014 saw fans pour out of Copacabana’s bars and watch from restaurants or closed-off streets as the country came to a standstill during the games. Even in Russia in 2018, where many visitors had low expectations, the country surprised both foreigners and its own citizens as celebrations filled streets and squares. This aspect of the World Cup may be endangered with the current state of its hosting countries. If fewer fans are willing or able to travel, if certain nationalities feel shut out, and if the public mood is clouded by fear of border checks and airport interrogations, those everyday places may never transform in the same way. 

On top of the visa issues, there is also a moral and political dimension to how some supporters view this tournament. For a growing number of fans, it is not just a question of “can I go?” but also “do I want to go, and do I want to give my money to this?”. Some international supporters and even officials argue that attending the World Cup in the US under its current political leadership risks normalising or rewarding these policies that are hostile to migrants, minorities and foreign visitors. Ticket cancellations – rumoured to be up to 17,000 refunds – and calls for boycotts, even if their exact scale is unclear, show that part of the global football community does not want to separate sport entirely from politics. 

Time zones add another, thinner layer to this ordeal. When the World Cup is held in Europe or Africa, many matches are friendly to viewing for large parts of the world. In 2006 and 2010, people across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia could finish work or school and still catch games live without needing to stay up all night. Even in Brazil and Russia, there were at least some overlapping time slots that allowed millions to watch in real time without completely disrupting their routines. North America, by contrast, pulls the centre of the tournament west. For many regions, especially in Europe, Africa and Asia, key matches in 2026 will kick off late at night or in the early hours of the morning. This makes it harder to organise the kinds of mass public screenings and shared experiences that give the World Cup its community feel. Of course, fans may still follow the tournament, but more through highlights or delayed broadcasts rather than through collective, live moments. 

These debates also show up at a much smaller, local scale. When I asked fifty people at our own school – of different ages, genders and nationalities – whether they planned to attend matches in person or follow the tournament from home, only two said they would travel to the United States to watch a game live. At the same time, only four said they would avoid the World Cup completely, either because of politics or lack of interest. Everyone else intended to follow most matches online or on television, even if the cost, distance and political context kept them from going in person. This small sample suggests that, for many ordinary fans, the 2026 World Cup is something to be experienced at a distance, important enough to watch, but not inviting enough to justify the costs. 

Taken together, these factors point toward a FIFA World Cup tournament that risks feeling more distant, even as it becomes physically bigger. Players will be there, the stadiums will be full of those who can afford the tickets and clear the border checks, and the TV product will be well-managed. But if large numbers of fans are discouraged or prevented from travelling, if others stay away on principle, and if time zones make it harder for much of the world to watch together, the deeper sense of shared global occasion may fade. The World Cup is supposed to be a rare moment when geography, politics and daily life pause so that people, everywhere, can feel part of the same story. In 2026, that promise will be tested. 

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