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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 19/11/2025

While Trump spoke, it appeared as if whenever he wanted to refer to Infantino by his first name - Gianni - the United States president called him "Johnny." It happened repeatedly, with the 79-year-old calling Infantino "Johnny" despite his name being Gianni.

Close up photo of Gianni "Johnny" Infantino looking annoyed and a bit dead inside.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 14/11/2025

The World Cup is supposed to be a soccer celebration, but fans might have second thoughts about visiting the United States if their teams play here.

Thousands demonstrated in Paris in May of 1978 before Argentina's World Cup. (MICHEL CLEMENT/AFP via Getty Images)

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 14/11/2025

In the USA, raids by masked federal agents are disappearing people, even US citizens, off the streets. Trump has antagonized and targeted co-hosts Canada and Mexico with an unnecessary and harmful tariff and border regime.

Federal agents, including members of ICE, patrol the halls of immigration court in New York City, on July 24. Spencer Platt/Getty Images – via https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/10/us/icy-roads-immigration-raid-alerts

At a liquor store in British Columbia, Canada, a sign offers a reminder to customers after top-selling U.S.-made products were removed from shelves. (Ethan Cairns / Canadian Press) – via https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-02-12/tired-of-trumps-aggressions-canadians-fight-back-with-a-boycott

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 21/06/2025

Meanwhile, Club World Cup matches are still scheduled to continue this week, with noon and 3pm kickoff times in Charlotte, Nashville, and Philadelphia.

JUV v WAC
12:00
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)

RMA v PAC
15:00
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)

AKL v BOC
15:00
GEODIS Park (Nashville)

SLB v BAY
15:00
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 21/06/2025

As we head into this FIFA Club World Cup weekend in the USA, meteorologists are warning of dangerous heat and humidity up and down the east coast. Temperatures will rise through Sunday and could last all week, with a heat index of 43ºC by Monday.

A weather map of the USA for Monday, June 23, showing a heat index above 35°C forecast from Houston to Chicago, and Maine to Florida.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 18/06/2025

These bans would directly impact World Cup participation among the Confederation of African Football nations, barring fans and supporters from Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, and Tanzania—all of which are in contention to qualify for a trip to the World Cup.

USA Travel Bans & World Cup Nations Map
Banned: Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen
Banned WC: Iran
Partial Ban: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan
Partial Ban WC: Venezuela
Proposed Ban: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Proposed Ban WC: Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 17/06/2025

The solution is clear. “To hold these bullies accountable, we need the world to stand with us. … If what we’re witnessing is a precursor to the World Cup, then it has never been clearer that a boycott is necessary.” #BoycottUSA2026

To hold these bullies accountable, we need the world to stand with us. No country should send their team to play when the citizens of 12 among them are banned. No person is safe when agents roam the country and its stadiums masked, asking people to show their papers based on the color of their skin. If what we're witnessing is a precursor to the World Cup, then it has never been clearer that a boycott is necessary.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 17/06/2025

Infantino has been eager to align himself with the new Trump administration. Squandering the prestige of this global tournament to launder the USA’s backslide into human rights abuses and honoring a dictator.

Fifa, notorious for turning a blind eye to authoritarians, made no attempt to hold this administration accountable. Trump's anti-immigrant policies were known to Infantino when he hailed their "great friendship", even adopting Trump's pet phrase to "make the world great again" because "football - or soccer - unites the world." When asked about the fears around Ice presence at the Club World Cup matches, Infantino said he had "no concerns about anything" except security.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 17/06/2025

While ICE threatens to check visas and passports outside stadiums, the USA has issued travel bans for Iran and Venezuela, recently announcing plans to ban visitors from 36 African and Middle Eastern countries, all while engaging in hostile diplomacy on the world stage.

This is consistent with the US's other actions on the world stage, including its withdrawal from the United Nations human rights council, its sanctioning of the international criminal court for issuing arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, its participation in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and its posting of bizarre Al reels to visualize turning the strip into a beach resort. This administration is one that flaunts its white supremacy, ending its refugee and asylum program for everyone

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 17/06/2025

FIFA has made no attempt to hide its preference for working with authoritarian nations, partnering with Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and now the USA to co-host the 2026 World Cup.

International sporting events, spectacles of recreation designed to distract people from their day-to-day lives, are cultural and political branding opportunities for their hosts. For authoritarians, they have long been used as a tool to distract from or launder stains of human rights violations and corruption - a practice called "sportswashing". Russia, which has a track record of violent repression and Qatar, notorious for labor rights violations, each paid millions in bribes to be able to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 respectively. "This is a new image of Russia that we now have," Fifa's president, Gianni Infantino, said after the tournament there.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 11/06/2025

It’s unclear what business Immigration and Customs Enforcement has providing security for an international sporting event but as we’ve seen in the past, this is an enormous risk to both tourists and citizens alike, and will lead to racial profiling and unlawful detentions.

CBP agents will be attending. United States Customs and Border Protection posted this on social media, “Let the games begin! The first FIFA Club World Cup games start on June 14th in Miami… CBP will be suited and booted and ready to provide security for the first round of games.”

We asked the agency what they meant by that, and they did not respond.

“The messaging that CBP is using is a bit cryptic, it’s sort of alluding that people should have their paperwork in order to attend the games,” said Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “It creates an environment where people are less likely to come watch the games because of just sheer intimidation.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will also be at the games. ICE told us they would be there as part of the security team, but they also included a reminder that all non-American citizens need to carry proof of their legal status.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 09/06/2025

As Natalie Stechyson writes for CBC News, there are litany of major concerns to take into account for anyone planning on visiting the USA to attend the World Cup.

The U.S. policies cited by the advocacy group include: reported travel restrictions and bans; visa practices that require applicants to disclose their sex assigned at birth and only recognize binary sex categories; the detainment of international students; the deportation of third-country nationals; and the blocking of refugees.
Amnesty International, an international human rights NGO, has also voiced concerns for the players and fans travelling to the U.S.
In a statement to CBC News, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of business and human rights, cited Trump's mass deportation program and
"arbitrary arrests and detentions." He also noted that routine border crosses
"have turned into harassment," especially for 2SLGBTQ+ people, religious minorities and people of colour.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 09/06/2025

Under the newly implemented travel ban, which goes into effect Monday, supporters from Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Sudan, and Haiti will be prevented from attending World Cup or Gold Cup matches. Never mind the headaches for staff or players trying to navigate the narrow exceptions to the ban.

Iran for instance, was one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup, but the two countries are engaged in a decades-long dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions. On Wednesday night, Trump signed an order that would ban people from a dozen countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.
It's set to go into effect on Monday.
The ban makes exceptions for athletes, coaches and immediate relatives travelling for the World Cup, but doesn't mention fans.
Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFA's Club World Cup later this month, golf's Ryder Cup in September and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: will the world want to come, or will they even be able to?

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 09/06/2025

The USA has seen an alarming rise in punitive interrogations and detentions at the border, with multiple reports of tourists being turned away or locked up for days or weeks at a time in harsh conditions over simple paperwork issues.

You could argue the United States isn't exactly the most welcoming country for visitors at the moment.
There's been a surge of border crackdowns, newvisa restrictions and an overall sense of fear over being detained amid multiple reports of foreigners being locked up for weeks in the five months since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
Yet, one of the biggest, most highly anticipated and attended sports events is coming to the U.S. next year: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, soccer's premier international competition.

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 09/06/2025

As @julesboykoff.bsky.social and @edgeofsports.bsky.social write for @thenation.com – "For yourselves, for your families, stay away from the United States. As for the players, do not bring your families into the United States. Do not endanger the people you love."

People should start pulling their visa applications (even applying now comes with the threat of "enhanced vetting") and to not come to the United States for the World Cup. You are entering an airspace where, thanks to government cuts, planes can no longer safely take off and land. Once off the plane, you will be entering an airport that could become your prison. Once you make it through, you are a leaving-your-visa-papers-in-your-hotel-room away from a gulag.
Please, for yourselves, for your families, stay away from the United States. As for the players, do not bring your families into the United States. Do not endanger the people you love.
It may be difficult to imagine a boycott of the US portion of the World Cup. But if you must see the tournament in person, the wonderful World Cup venues in Mexico and Canada provide an alternative for those who don't find concentration camps "funny."

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Boycott the World Cup @boycottusa2026.org · 09/06/2025

The Trump administration is sending one message to the world: It is not safe to come here. The USA is not a welcoming place where Football Unites the World. Under the new authoritarian regime, they will not hesitate to take unprecedented and illegal action to crack down on anyone.

Hosting the 2026 World Cup in the United States is dangerous for teams, their families, and their fans. And the word is out. A new group-Boycott USA 2026-has emerged to demand that "games scheduled in the USA must be moved or boycotted." The organization is concerned that international visitors may be in danger and that the Trump administration may use the soccer tournament as an alibi for intensifying its deportation machine.

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