World Cup 2026 and U.S. admissions: Donald Trump’s response prompts debate
Donald Trump is still causing controversy on the day before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the culmination of a week marked by bitter controversy over the extremely difficult entry into the United States for some teams and delegations and even rejected regarding Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan. The U.S. president, in fact, gave his own explanation for the entry policies adopted so far in the country.
“We let in the right people,” Trump glossed over while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, as also relayed by Ansa. His remark had come in response to a direct question about the many people who have been denied entry into the United States, including many fans who already had tickets. “The World Cup has never been so successful,” the tycoon argued instead when teased about low ticket sales figures for the event.
The Artan case, however, remains the one that has made the most noise internationally. The Somali referee, honored in 2025 as the best African referee of the year and selected by FIFA as one of 52 referees for the final stage of the tournament, was on a regular visa but was sent back to Turkey, from where he had departed via Kenya. The Trump administration had suspended visas for 75 countries earlier this year, including Somalia. Upon his return to Mogadishu, Artan was greeted by hundreds of fans and the Somali Minister of Youth and Sports, becoming a de facto national hero. “I promise you, God willing, I will participate in the next World Cup,” he said at the airport, adding, “Somalia belongs to us, whether it is in a difficult situation or not. That flag and that passport belong to us. It is up to all of us to defend the name of Somalia.”
Artan’s is but the most striking incident in a series of border tensions involving several delegations. Iraq attacker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours in a room at the Chicago airport and subjected to lengthy interrogation before being allowed to enter the country, while his national team’s photographer, Talal Salah, was permanently turned away. Tight controls also affected the Uzbekistan national team, coached by Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro, which was searched with metal detectors and drug-sniffing dogs upon arrival in New York: videos of the scene quickly went viral. The Iranian federation, for its part, also denounced the revocation of the quota of tickets reserved for its fans for group stage matches, calling the decision “contrary to the spirit of international competitions.”
In this climate, a controversial front page of ‘L’Équipe’ added further fuel to the fire. The French sports daily chose a vitriolic cover titled “Welcome to the USA”: Trump portrayed with the “FIFA Peace Prize” medal around his neck, the World Cup in one hand and FIFA President Gianni Infantino turned into a puppet in the other, with referee Artan and a masked ICE agent on either side. In the United States, the cover has been branded by many as a political provocation, while FIFA has once again reiterated that it has no role in the host country’s migration policies. The World Cup is ready to go, but the tension around the event seems destined not to subside.
