Welcome to the greatest show on Earth! Here the incredible acceleration of Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior destroys the backline of Morocco, there the US marquee man Christian Pulisic takes on Paraguay. The football World Cup is indeed one of the most beloved cultural phenomena of mankind.
But behind the joyous scenes and roars “gooooooal”, a different tournament comes into view. In anno 2026, the chief World Cup host drags one into the darkness of Donald Trump’s inhumane policies and Fifa’s deceit—the selling of football’s soul.
This, then, is the MAGA World Cup, lorded over by Fifa president Gianni Infantino. This is a tournament entirely of his making, because the 2018 and 2022 editions in Russia and Qatar had been awarded under his predecessor Sepp Blatter. Modest as he is, Infantino has lauded this tournament already as “the greatest event in the history of humanity”. His sales slogan—’Football unites the World’—excludes of course Somali referee Omar Artan, Iran’s members of staff and the countless supporters who have been priced out.
A day before the World Cup kicked off, at a press conference in Mexico City—his first in three years—Infantino didn’t stand up for Artan and doubled down on ticket prices. He pointedly advised the world press to “Just, you know, chill, relax.” It’s as if he feels tasked with a divine mission to provide ‘happiness to humanity’ by delivering the greatest show on Earth. Hence, the fury of raised eyebrows and a seething inside because of the media coverage he has received. At least he did not repeat his rambling speech from Qatar when he felt “like a migrant worker”.
In Qatar, Fifa showed terrible contempt for the lives of the countless migrant workers who transformed the Gulf nation to stage West Asia’s first World Cup. They toiled under the notorious kafala system of forced labour that ties a worker to an employer. After the tournament, human rights groups demanded that Fifa and Qatar create a compensation fund of $440 million, the equivalent of the prize money, to reimburse the workers and their families.
Fifa’s own subcommittee for human rights and social responsibility accepted the recommendation of an independent report by advisory firm Human Level that migrant workers should be compensated. Infantino ignored the recommendation. Instead, he worked on the bidding process for the 2034 World Cup and awarded the host rights to Saudi Arabia, another regime that exploits migrant workers.
Under Infantino, good governance at Fifa has nosedived. He got himself elected on a ticket of reform. He even took a flight on a low-cost airline to signal that his Fifa would be different—transparent and accountable.
In reality, Infantino worked relentlessly to centralise and consolidate his power. He ousted the head of governance Miguel Maduro, engineered the removal of Confederation of African Football president Ahmad Ahmad in favour of South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, and covertly backed the European Super League. Now, to top it off, Fifa has on-boarded a highly questionable prediction market partner, ADI PredictStreet.
As for the supporters, they are simply priced out. The 2026 World Cup applies a dynamic ticket pricing system that results in, for instance, the nauseating amount of $33,000 for the World Cup final on July 19 in New Jersey.
Perhaps most egregiously, Infantino awarded Trump with Fifa’s inaugural Peace Prize. Article 15 of the Fifa Code of Ethics stipulates a duty of political neutrality for football officials. It prevents football leadership from endorsing political candidates or using Fifa’s platform to sway state politics.
Why, then, did Infantino don a MAGA hat at the Board of Peace event and praised Trump at the American Business Forum, stating: “He says what he thinks. He says, actually, what many people think as well, but maybe don’t dare to say, and that’s why he’s so successful.”
Football officials have defended Infantino’s servile and oleaginous behaviour as calculated diplomacy to keep the unpredictable American President on board. However, there is no placating Trump—as the war against Iran and the visa refusals for World Cup attendees confirm again.
Why—apart from Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Federation—has no one stood up? Because the 211 member associations are tightly kept in line with the millions of dollars they receive from Fifa’s Forward Development programme. It all comes down to a system of patronage so as to keep the electorate happy. Unknown to most fans, Fifa Council members pocket an annual stipend of $250,000-300,000 to attend a handful of meetings.
Time and again, football and Fifa have proven that they urgently need external scrutiny and reform. They cannot regulate themselves. Yet, politicians prefer to cosy up to Infantino and tap into the global appeal of the game with photo ops. The European Union, meanwhile, lacks the backbone or the willingness to intervene and finally protect a cultural phenomenon that so many hold so dear.
Meanwhile, this tournament has become a spectacle of capitalism and politics on steroids—a World Cup that neglects its supporters and shows no regard for the environment. Yet in spite of all the glitz and relentless self-aggrandising, Infantino’s presidency could be fragile. After years of tightening his stranglehold on the organisation and the global game, one wonders whether he may finally have overstepped.
Samindra Kunti | Football and investigative journalist based in Belgium
(Views are personal)