U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a meeting with the White House task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Monday.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that ticket-holders for next year’s World Cup games in the U.S. will have access to an expedited visa application process, amid rising concerns that the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreigners would flatten enthusiasm for soccer fans to travel to America for the tournament.
At an Oval Office event with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the FIFA PASS program – Priority Appointment Scheduling System – which would enable ticket-holders to jump to the front of the line for a visa interview. “I’ve directed my administration to do everything within the power to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success. I think it’s going to be the greatest,” said Trump.
The move comes five months after Trump announced partial or total bans on travellers to the U.S. from 19 countries including Iran, which qualified for the World Cup in March, and Haiti, which could qualify as soon as Tuesday. The ban does not apply to the teams themselves.
The president has also threatened to pull the tournament from a number of U.S. cities overseen by mayors or governors who displease him, a threat he expanded on Monday by suggesting he could send the National Guard to California in advance of the games hosted by Los Angeles. He also denigrated the new mayor-elect of Seattle, which is scheduled to host six games at Lumen Field including Team U.S.A.’s second group-stage match.
“The governors are going to have to behave, the mayors are going to have to behave,” he said.
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The U.S., which is co-hosting the event with Mexico and Canada, is scheduled to stage 78 matches in 11 U.S. cities. Mexico will hold 13 matches across three cities, while Canada will host 13 matches in Toronto and Vancouver, starting with the Canadian men’s national team kicking off in Toronto on June 12.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department had deployed more than 400 additional consular officers around the world,” in part to process World Cup visa applications. But he cautioned that fans would still have to jump through hoops under the FIFA PASS program, which will require ticket-holders to apply for an appointment through a dedicated FIFA portal.
“Your ticket is not a visa,” he said during the Oval Office announcement. “It doesn’t guarantee admission to the U.S. It guarantees you an expedited appointment. You’re still going to go through the same vetting.” He added that ticket-holders would still face wait times of up to eight weeks for an interview: “If you intend to come to the games … you need to apply as soon as possible.”
A press release from FIFA noted that more information on the program “will be shared with ticket-holders in early 2026.”
U.S. President Donald Trump listens as FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during a meeting with the White House task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday in Washington.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
Canadian passport holders do not require visas.
In a statement issued by FIFA, Infantino said: “America welcomes the world. We have always said that this will be the greatest and most inclusive FIFA World Cup in history – and the FIFA PASS service is a very concrete example of that.”
During the event, Trump noted that Seattle had just elected a new mayor, whom he characterized as “very, very liberal slash communist,” and then turned to Infantino. “If we think there’s going to be a problem, Gianni, can I say we will move?”
Infantino, who holds the ultimate decision-making power for the games, did not directly respond to Trump’s question. “I think safety and security is the No. 1 priority for a successful World Cup,” he said. “We will discuss, we are working together, we have a task force for this, and we must ensure that all fans coming from abroad or being here, they can experience a celebration of coming together of the sport, and this goes only with 100 per cent safety.”
Trump then said that if any host cities or states are concerned that he might push Infantino to have the matches moved elsewhere, local businesses should pressure their elected leaders to act. “Get your governor to ask for federal help,” he said. “I would love to send in National Guard or whoever is necessary to help them.”
The logistics involved in staging World Cup matches would make it challenging to move them at this stage, less than seven months away from kickoff. Cities and states have been planning the tournament for several years, supported in each location by tens or in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars of government and private investment.
Later in the Oval Office announcement, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, noted that the administration would expect travelers to, “come and enjoy our country and then they would go home, and go home in a timely manner.”