The United States is co-hosting the FIFA 2026 World alongside neighbours, Canada and Mexico, but a proposal by the Trump administration may scupper many fans’ plans to attend
Football fans have expressed fears Donald Trump’s proposed border control plans could impact heavily on the FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer. Under rule changes proposed by the President’s administration, people travelling to the US could be forced to hand over five years of their social media history data – as well as email addresses, phone numbers, and details about family members.
With 42 countries on the Visa Waiver Program including the UK [England and Scotland], France, Germany and Spain all affected as well as Australia, Japan and South Korea – all of whom have qualified for the tournament – the ruling could see many fans forced to miss out. According to FIFA analysis, football’s governing body believes the World Cup will generate $30.5 billion [£22.8 billion] to the hosts’ economies and create 185,000 jobs in the US alone.
While England and Scotland have secured their place at the World Cup, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all have the chance to join them by winning play-off games in March.
However, those figures are based on initial assumptions that the tournament would attract 2.6 million attendees – with approximately 50 per cent of that number coming from abroad.
The new proposal prompted TikTok user, Marcus Kidd to explain: “A new proposal put forth on the Federal Register by the Customs and Border Patrol plans to require all foreign tourists that are trying to enter the US to provide mandatory new data and it’s regardless of whether they are coming from countries that require visas.”
He continued: “By the way, this is coming just months before the World Cup next year, and then a couple of years before the Olympics [in Los Angeles in 2028]. So it’s setting the stage for everyone coming to have to provide all their social media data, addresses and family members’ details.”
With 79-year old Trump often proving the subject of criticism on social media, many TikTok users were left fearing the worst. “Looks like the football World Cup is going to flop,” one person said.
A second added: “Yeah and the Olympics too, stadiums are gonna be full in Mexico and Canada and empty in the USA.”
A third individual commented: “World Cup and Olympics are going to be very empty.” And a fourth TikTok user concurred: “So that means no one is going to the World Cup.”
The executive director of Football Supporters Europe, Ronan Evain, said in response to the proposal: “The US government’s announced plans are profoundly unacceptable. Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are universal human rights. No football fan surrenders those rights just because they cross a border.
“This policy introduces a chilling atmosphere of surveillance that directly contradicts the welcoming, open spirit the World Cup is meant to embody and it must be withdrawn immediately.”
The Customs and Border Protection’s proposal will go through 60 days of public comment, a period that ends on February 9, 2026.
It comes after Trump froze immigration applications from 19 countries last week. This applies to citizens from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, with restricted access for those from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.