US may host World Cup once more as Trump’s determined to do it ‘whereas he is nonetheless round’
The US President Donald Trump was so knocked out by this summer’s tournament he wants to do it all again while he is still around to see it – with America going solo as hosts
Donald Trump (right) and Gianni Infantino with the World Cup(Image: Eduardo Carmim/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
The US could host the World Cup again as soon as 2038. President Donald Trump was so knocked out by the success of the tournament he wants to put it on again – while he is still around to see it.
This time the United States would go it alone – without the support of this year’s co-hosts Mexico and Canada. FIFA president Gianni Infantino could go for it because the tournament has raked in so much cash.
Trump, 80, would be 92 if the plan goes ahead. The idea emerged after he said to his FIFA president buddy on Fox News: “We have to do this again and we have to do it while I’m around, you hear that Gianni?”
Spain lift the World Cup(Image: Evrim Aydin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
An American bid for the 2038 World Cup has been the talk of hotel lobbies populated by administrators from around the world over the past month. They have seen firsthand the US’s limitless appetite for major events and willingness to pay whatever it takes to attend them.
FIFA has been actively encouraging a US bid for some time. In a meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in New York at the weekend Infantino told representatives of FIFA’s 211 member associations its revenue projections for the current four-year cycle had increased from £8.2bn to £11.2bn.
The vast majority of the growth had come from an explosion in World Cup ticketing and hospitality revenue. A FIFA source said such had been the demand in the US that ticketing and hospitality sales had hit £3.7bn and was worth more than the World Cup’s TV rights for the first time.
A senior figure at one of its hospitality partners said: “FIFA will want to get back here as quickly as possible.” Sources suggest FIFA is already working at pace to try and clinch a deal.
The sudden opening of the 2034 bidding process two years ago took most confederations by surprise. Infantino announced Saudi Arabia would be the hosts just 25 days later – a decision ratified by all FIFA members at a virtual extraordinary general meeting two months later.
If Infantino is re-elected for a fourth term as president unopposed – as expected – he could ensure Trump gets the right to stage the tournament before the US President leaves office in January 2029.
