PtG

FIFA and the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest in history. Yet behind its promise of unity and celebration, the tournament raises urgent questions about FIFA’s expanding power, political alliances, human rights concerns, environmental impact, betting integrity, and the consequences for fans, communities, journalists, and the wider game.

This theme page collects Play the Game’s articles, analysis, and commentary on FIFA and the 2026 World Cup. Together, they examine how the tournament is shaped by political power, commercial interests, local conflicts, and failures in global governance.

Below, you can find articles that explore:

FIFA’s growing power under Gianni Infantino: how reform promises after the 2015 corruption crisis have given way to centralised authority, weakened accountability, and close relationships with political leaders and state power.
The politics behind the 2026 World Cup: how the tournament has become entangled with Donald Trump’s America, diplomatic tensions between host countries, Saudi influence, fossil-fuel sponsorship, and FIFA’s use of football as a stage for political theatre.
Human rights and fan safety: how promises of a safe and welcoming tournament are tested by concerns over immigration enforcement, protest rights, discrimination, homelessness, displacement, and the protection of vulnerable communities in host cities.
Local impacts in Canada, Mexico, and the United States: how World Cup preparations affect housing, public space, policing, water, ecosystems, transport, and communities living close to stadiums and development projects.
Climate and sustainability: how the expanded World Cup format, long travel distances, fossil-fuel interests, and weak carbon accounting challenge FIFA’s climate commitments and raise questions about the real environmental cost of mega-events.
Betting, data, and integrity risks: how FIFA’s commercial expansion into betting-related markets, livestreaming, prediction games, and data partnerships may create new vulnerabilities for match-fixing and illegal gambling.
Money flows and accountability in world football: how cases such as Argentina's 2022 World Cup victory show that World Cup success and football’s global commercial value can generate vast fortunes while leaving serious questions about transparency, tax, and federation governance.
Journalism, scrutiny, and the legacy of Qatar 2022: how lessons from Qatar’s surveillance and media-management strategies remain relevant as journalists, fans, and critics prepare to cover the 2026 World Cup in a different political environment.
Boycotts, responsibility, and democratic debate: why the question is not simply whether to attend, watch, or boycott, but how football’s structures allow controversial tournaments to be awarded, staged, and celebrated before meaningful public scrutiny begins.