WASHINGTON — As the United States prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration has outlined extensive plans to deliver what it calls the safest and most welcoming tournament in history.
Speaking Wednesday at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center, Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force, repeatedly emphasized that security and hospitality are not mutually exclusive. “We will do everything in our power to make these games and this tremendous World Cup a safe, successful one … Security and hospitality can and will coexist. This World Cup will be great proof of that,” he told reporters.
The expanded 48-team tournament, running from June 11 to July 19, 2026, will feature 104 matches across 16 North American cities, with the United States hosting 78 games, including all knockout rounds from the quarterfinals onward and the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Organizers expect between five and seven million international visitors and more than six million tickets sold, dwarfing the 3.6 million attendees of the 1994 World Cup.
Giuliani, appointed to lead the task force in May 2025, highlighted several concrete measures already underway. Federal coordination teams have been deployed to all 11 U.S. host cities (Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle) to provide local authorities with direct access to federal resources and expertise. Congress has allocated $1 billion in security grants and infrastructure grants, including $500 million specifically for counter-drone technology.
Addressing concerns about drone threats around stadiums, Giuliani issued a blunt warning: “There’ll be zero tolerance for people flying their drones around these stadiums during these games.” He referenced a June 2025 incident in New Jersey in which an asylum seeker was detained by ICE near MetLife Stadium during the FIFA Club World Cup final, describing the individual as having violated a temporary flight restriction involving a counter-drone system.
On the sensitive question of whether ICE enforcement actions would be paused during World Cup matches, Giuliani declined to rule them out. “We’re having continuous conversations on this,” he said. “The president does not rule out anything that will help make American citizens safer.”
Immigration and visa policy emerged as one of the most scrutinized aspects of the preparations. Giuliani pointed to dramatic reductions in visa wait times in several high-volume countries: Türkiye’s backlog has fallen from 16 months to just two months, while similar improvements have been achieved in Brazil and Argentina through increased consular staffing.
A major new initiative is the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS), set to launch in early 2026. Verified ticket holders from non-visa-waiver countries will be able to schedule expedited visa interviews, placing them near the front of the queue at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. Fans from the 42 countries currently in the Visa Waiver Program can continue using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
“It’s a great opportunity to make sure that people can come in here legally,” Giuliani said. “That is what the president is emphasizing. Please come to the United States of America. Come in here legally. If you’re coming here to enjoy, spend your disposable income, enjoy the United States of America, you’re welcome. If you are a potential threat, you’re not going to get approved.”
The assurances come against a backdrop of renewed travel restrictions affecting citizens of 19 countries, including 2026 qualifiers Iran and Haiti. While players, coaching staff, and immediate family members receive exemptions, ordinary fans from those nations face significant barriers. Iran’s football federation boycotted the official group-stage draw scheduled for December 5, 2025, in Washington after most of its delegation was denied visas.
Human rights organizations have warned that aggressive immigration enforcement in or near host cities could deter international attendance and create an atmosphere of fear. Since January 2025, ICE has reportedly conducted tens of thousands of arrests in the 11 U.S. host cities, prompting calls for FIFA to demand guarantees that immigration raids will not take place inside or immediately around stadiums during matches.
Despite the tensions, the administration insists the tournament will showcase America at its best. Federal agencies are working with local governments on everything from public transit planning to cybersecurity and counter-terrorism. The event is also timed to coincide with the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations in 2026, adding symbolic weight to the proceedings.
Giuliani closed his remarks with confidence: “We expect somewhere between five and seven million international visitors, and to meet this unprecedented scale, we have deployed federal coordination teams in all 11 host cities. These teams give local authorities direct access to federal expertise and resources, ensuring a unified, consistent approach across the country.”
With less than seven months until kickoff at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, the world is watching to see whether the United States can deliver on its promise of a World Cup that is both emphatically safe, spectacularly welcoming, and unmistakably American.
