World Cup collides with Trump's America First agenda

The 2026 World Cup is becoming an early test of how the Trump administration's security-first immigration approach will shape a global tournament built on cross-border travel, access and international participation.

New reporting has turned that concern into concrete cases. AP said Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Association, was denied a U.S. visa to attend the tournament. The Guardian reported that Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was blocked from U.S. entry for the World Cup under President Donald Trump's travel ban, even though he had a valid visa.

Those developments show the policy reach extending beyond ordinary spectators. They affect the officials, referees, federation staff and media-adjacent workers who help stage and cover the event.

The United States will host 78 of the tournament's 104 matches, so visa rules in one country carry outsized weight. Even with the tournament spread across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, much of the practical access question now depends on whether people can enter the U.S. portion of the event at all.

Concrete exclusions

AP reported that Rajoub's denial came while he was in Mexico City for the opening match. The outlet also said U.S. restrictions on Palestinian passport holders have tightened recently, especially for people linked to the Palestinian Authority.

That makes the case more than a routine visa setback. It places one of soccer's most visible Palestinian officials outside the U.S. side of the tournament as the competition begins.

The Guardian's reporting on Artan added a separate example of how border controls can affect tournament staff. Artan was said to have been denied entry despite holding a valid visa, and UEFA later assigned him the Super Cup final in Salzburg.

Taken together, the two cases suggest that paperwork alone may not guarantee access. Visa status, travel restrictions and border screening can all affect whether key personnel make it to work in the United States.

FIFA's limits

The broader problem for football's governing bodies is that FIFA cannot override national immigration rules. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the organization cannot overrule government visa regulations.

That leaves FIFA with limited leverage. It can lobby and coordinate, but it cannot force the United States to admit someone once immigration authorities have denied access.

For an event marketed as a global gathering, that is a significant constraint. The host country's rules can shape who participates in the World Cup experience, even when the sport's leadership wants the tournament to be open.

Beyond fans

The immigration impact is not limited to officials and referees. Wired reported that foreign social media influencers will need work visas if they create monetized World Cup content inside the United States.

Wired said the rule treats monetized content creation as employment subject to immigration regulations. That pushes the tournament's digital coverage into the same enforcement framework affecting visitors, staff and match officials.

The practical result is that the World Cup's media and creator ecosystem faces another layer of screening. Sponsored or monetized reporting from inside the U.S. may no longer be treated as casual travel activity.

Fans face a different but related uncertainty. The tournament already depends on complicated travel across three host countries, and the U.S. portion adds additional screening risk for some nationalities and travel categories.

What to watch

The immediate question is whether more denials, delays or exceptions surface as the tournament continues. The current reporting covers a Palestinian football official, a Somali referee and foreign creators, but it does not rule out more cases involving supporters, media workers or support staff.

Another open issue is whether U.S. authorities will clarify how World Cup-related content work is classified. Wired's reporting suggests the government is already drawing a line around monetized production, but the scope of that rule is still important for people traveling to cover the event.

There is also a policy question for FIFA and the host authorities. So far, the confirmed reporting points to a gap between the tournament's promise of global inclusion and the United States' security-first immigration posture.

That gap is visible before the main U.S. match schedule is fully underway. If more high-profile denials emerge, the World Cup's off-field immigration fight may become one of the tournament's defining stories.