As the 2026 FIFA World Cup draws to a close, U.S. President Donald Trump has called on FIFA to bring the tournament back to the United States.
Speaking at a reception in Trump Tower in New York on Friday, ahead of Sunday's final, Trump praised the country's role in hosting the competition and said he hoped it would not be long before the World Cup returned.
"You should choose the United States of America again," Trump said. "This time, we will leave Canada and Mexico out."
The United States staged 78 of the tournament's 104 matches, including every game from the quarter-finals onwards, while Canada and Mexico also hosted fixtures during the expanded competition.
The next available World Cup without a confirmed host is the 2038 tournament.
Although hosting two World Cups within 12 years would be unusual, FIFA's current rotation system leaves North America and Oceania as the only eligible regions after the governing body awarded the 2030 tournament to Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, and the 2034 edition to Saudi Arabia.
That makes the United States a potential candidate should FIFA decide to return the competition to North America.
Trump also revealed that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had discussed the possibility of the United States and China jointly hosting a future World Cup.
He did not provide further details on when such a bid could take place.
Trump is expected to attend Sunday's final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The U.S. president also reflected on one of the tournament's more controversial moments involving American forward Folarin Balogun.
Trump reportedly contacted Infantino during the competition to discuss Balogun's red card in the United States' round-of-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FIFA later suspended the player's one-match ban, allowing Balogun to feature against Belgium. However, the United States suffered a 4-1 defeat and again failed to reach the quarter-finals, a stage they have not reached since 2002.
Addressing Infantino, Trump said: "You made another great decision. You'll never get credit for that."
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