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Calls are growing for European countries to boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup later this year in opposition to President Donald Trump, as many of the games are set to take place in the United States.
The World Cup will be held in multiple locations across three countries in North America (Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.), with most games happening in the U.S. Many fans are concerned about traveling to the U.S., noting not only the high ticket and travel costs, but also difficulties getting travel visas due to Trump’s immigration policies and the invasive surveillance measures his administration is implementing against people entering the country.
There are additional political concerns for fans and world leaders alike, including the Trump administration’s invasion of Venezuela earlier this month, its continued threats against Greenland, and its violent crackdown on immigrants and protesters.
Left-leaning French politician Éric Coquerel has urged a boycott of the games, taking note of numerous actions by President Donald Trump over the past year.
“Can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its ‘neighbors,’ threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law, wants to torpedo the U.N.?” Coquerel recently asked.
Polling indicates Europeans would potentially consider a boycott under certain conditions. A survey in Germany, whose team is considered a top contender, found that 1 in 2 residents (47 percent) approved of a boycott of the games in the event the U.S. attempts to annex Greenland.
In the Netherlands, an online petition has amassed over 156,000 signatures calling for the Dutch team to boycott the games.
“We do not want our players, through their actions at the tournament, to implicitly support President Donald Trump’s violent terrorist policies against innocent migrants,” a translated version of the petition reads.
“We also condemn the aggressive military intervention of the United States in other countries and find it unacceptable that our players should play at a tournament hosted by a president who threatens to invade and occupy” Greenland, the petition adds.
Oke Gottlich, vice president of the German Football Association, said he would like to have a more serious discussion about a boycott, referring to the geopolitical situation that led to a U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
“By my reckoning, the potential threat is greater now than it was then,” Gottlich opined. “We need to have this discussion.”
Other voices are not necessarily calling for a boycott, but for other actions to be taken. Dozens of members of Parliament in the United Kingdom have called on FIFA to exclude the U.S. team from the games, citing reasons similar to those used to exclude Russia in other international competitions, including that the Trump administration’s “conduct undermines the rules-based international order.”
Swiss attorney Mark Pieth, who chaired the Independent Governance Committee, which oversaw FIFA reform over a decade ago, has pushed for soccer fans in Europe to avoid the U.S.-based portion of the games.
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!” Pieth said.
On Monday, former FIFA president Joseph Blatter shared Pieth’s comment in a post on X, backing the fan-based boycott of the games held in the U.S.
“I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup,” Blatter wrote.
The likelihood of a boycott at this time is still considered extraordinarily low, given the magnitude of the international soccer tournament.
“The vast love of the sport shared by many tends to win out over any moral hesitation,” an analysis from The Washington Post noted.
But with some voices calling for a boycott now — and the start of the World Cup several months away — support for such an action could grow, especially if Trump continues to implement foreign policy that affects footballers’ home countries, or policy domestically that the international community cannot overlook.
Complicating the matter is that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is close friends with Trump, which might make reticence against boycotting the event easier to overcome.
After Trump failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year, Infantino created his own “FIFA Peace Prize,” awarding it to the U.S. president at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in December.
FIFA itself has a sordid history, particularly under Infantino’s tenure, that may warrant calls for boycotts on their own.
The soccer organization has overlooked human rights abuses to advance its own interests on several occasions — including selecting Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup, despite that country’s vast history of human rights violations, use of child labor, and treatment of foreign laborers.
FIFA has also brushed aside its own governing rules when it comes to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Israel has violated multiple FIFA statutes, including playing league matches on occupied land and killing Palestinian soccer players.
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