For 2026 World Cup traveling fans, U.S. visa policy, wait times present roadblocks

‍By Adam Crafton

Feb. 28, 2025 Updated March 7, 2025

On a mantelpiece behind President Donald Trump’s desk in the Oval Office, beside an ornament of Abraham Lincoln and below the draped stars and stripes of the U.S. flag, sits a replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Since taking office in January for his second term, President Trump has repeatedly name checked the major sporting events due to be hosted in the United States during his presidency, specifically the men’s World Cup in 2026, which will be shared with Canada and Mexico. The Olympic Games will take place in Los Angeles in 2028.

He has also reminded everyone that he was president in 2018 when the 2026 tournament was awarded and the U.S. secured 75 per cent of the matches. Trump’s administration had a role in the bidding and lobbying process. Most significantly, in a letter dated May 2, 2018, first reported on by The New York Times and subsequently referred to in FIFA’s bid evaluation report, Trump wrote to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and said he was confident that “all eligible athletes, officials and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination” during the tournament.

Now, however, just over 15 months out from the opening fixture of the World Cup, multiple sources within the U.S. Department of State (which oversees international relations) believe this commitment is at significant risk of being unfulfilled. There are also widespread fears that a “non-insignificant” number of people who legitimately acquire tickets for the tournament will be refused visas altogether. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

As part of The Athletic’s reporting, it was also found that:

• With the World Cup now 468 days away, official government data on wait times for visa interviews at U.S. embassies are as high as 700 days in Colombia, 560 days in Turkey, and 332 days in Morocco.
• State Department employees told The Athletic they are concerned that government cuts being undertaken by tech billionaire Elon Musk, in his role heading up the Department of Government Efficiency, as well as anti-immigration policies by Trump’s administration, may have the consequence of worsening wait times and acceptance rates for traveling World Cup fans who require a visa.
• There are fears within the State Department that travel bans will be applied or threatened by the Trump administration against people from countries whose teams may be competing in the World Cup, which may limit the ability of supporters to attend the tournament.
• Infantino has cultivated a personal relationship with Trump, even attending his inauguration. But multiple sources say FIFA — whose newly-appointed head of immigration, Josh Wodka, is a former staffer for presidential candidate Kamala Harris — is struggling to make sufficient inroads with the new administration on a working level. FIFA insists Wodka’s role within the government relations team will be internal facing rather than communicating with the government directly.
• FIFA says it held a meeting in the past two weeks that involved unspecified White House personnel and State Department officials but not Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose deputy chief of staff was instead present.
• Geoff Freeman, the chief executive for the U.S. Travel Association, a non-profit that advocates for the travel industry, warns that the U.S. is “already behind the eight ball, needs to move with a greater degree of urgency and that planning needs to go into this at a federal level.”
• Travis Murphy, a former State Department diplomat who previously ran governmental affairs for the NBA, says America faces a philosophical question as to whether it wants the World Cup to be an event that is “open and inclusive” to the world.

The State Department spokesperson did not respond directly to the points raised in this article, saying only that “they are committed to protecting the nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through the visa process.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to The Athletic, FIFA appeared to urge the Trump administration to stand by its previous commitments and recognize the potential economic benefits for the country.

A spokesperson said: “It is worth noting that the current administration was in office during the successful bid process for 2026, and signed the government guarantees as part of that process. We continue to work with various departments and agencies of the U.S. Government to ensure the U.S. can capitalize on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to tap into billions of dollars in positive financial benefits and goodwill and bring millions of people from different nations and communities together to celebrate in the United States.”

When nations bid to host a World Cup, FIFA requests assurances that countries will do their utmost to facilitate travel and visa access in order to fill stadiums, sell out fan zones, drive tourism associated with the tournament and have as competitive a marketplace as possible to fuel ticket sales. A recent report by the U.S. Travel Association said that six million people could visit the country for the World Cup, providing it is made possible by the visa process.

This will also be the largest World Cup in history, as FIFA’s tournament expands to 48 competing nations. Qualification is ongoing, and many supporters across the world will not know until much closer to the event whether their team will be present, while tickets are also still to go on sale. These factors make it unlikely for fans to apply for visas ahead of time, and it means the need to reduce wait times closer to the summer of 2026 is essential.

Some countries likely to compete in the tournament should have relatively smooth access for visitors. Forty-two countries, including many in Europe as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia, are part of a visa waiver program — ESTA — to enter the U.S. This system means citizens of these countries can travel without obtaining a visa, so long as their trip for tourism or business does not exceed 90 days; however, those traveling from many possible contending nations for the World Cup do require visas. This includes Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, among many other Latin American nations, as well as large swathes of the Middle East and Africa.

For the previous men’s World Cup in Qatar, visitors were able to expedite their entry into the gulf state by applying for a Hayya card, which was effectively a fan pass for World Cup ticket-holders that doubled up as the visa for the tournament.

In recent years, FIFA had hoped to develop similar systems for 2026, but this was rejected by the U.S. government, largely due to global security concerns during a period of history where tensions have been high with Russia, China and various places within the Middle East. The Americans also knocked back an attempt by FIFA to introduce a Schengen-style pass for World Cup ticket-holders and teams that would enable visitors to have a single visa to attend the tournament across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Instead, the three host countries will each have differing entry criteria for visitors.

Multiple State Department officials explained that FIFA’s requests were deemed even by President Joe Biden’s administration to be “out of the norm and wildly unrealistic.” While previous World Cup hosts have passed legislation to enable visa access for World Cup ticket-holders, the reality is that it is extremely difficult to pass immigration bills through U.S. Congress, particularly given the sensitivities around the topic in recent years. The government employees added that it was unrealistic to expect the U.S. to follow the lead of countries such as Qatar or Russia, because, they argued, those countries are not deemed globally to be desirable places for people to seek permanent residence.

The State Department has previously succeeded in bringing down extremely long wait times in Argentina and Brazil, which are now down to around a month, and the cause was helped by $50 million set aside “to reduce passport backlogs and reduce visa wait times” in a bill signed into law by President Biden in March 2024. The simplest method to reduce wait times is additional staff and consular officers at embassies, but at a time when the size of the U.S. state is being reduced, employees fear that the previous progress in key markets may be reversed, while those struggling with wait times may worsen.

Nations whose citizens require visas to enter the U.S. are subject to stringent interviews. These interviews take place at consulates across the world and usually last a couple of minutes, during which they must convince U.S. officials of their legitimate reason for travel.

State Department officials said that a ticket for a World Cup game, or the cheaper ticket for a FIFA Fan Zone during the tournament, will be unlikely to suffice alone. A State Department employee explained that a young man from Morocco, which reached the semifinal of the World Cup in 2022, or Nigeria, in another example provided, would also likely need to show they have a residence abroad where they would be compelled to return, and it would also be beneficial to show solid employment and a past record of foreign travel.

Former U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in 2018.Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In short, a World Cup ticket alone may not be deemed a legitimate reason for entry. FIFA, in its statement to The Athletic, said: “Fans can apply for visas at any time to start the process, and they do not need to wait for a ticket. Importantly, however, a ticket does not guarantee a visa, nor does a visa guarantee a ticket.”

Showing a World Cup ticket as evidence would be a challenge because, as per guidance issued on U.S. consulate websites, electronic devices such as mobile phones or laptops are not permitted within embassies for security reasons. The most secure means of demonstrating a ticket — via a QR code — is therefore not feasible at an interview, while paper tickets come with a counterfeit risk.

The level of scrutiny applied to candidates is only expected to increase under the Trump administration. He has already signed an executive order that calls for “enhanced vetting and screening” of people entering the country.

State Department officials are also braced for a repeat of Trump’s first term, when travel bans were implemented against nations. Trump signed an executive order in his first term that limited entry into the U.S. for refugees and banned foreign nationals from several predominantly Muslim countries entering the U.S. for 90 days.

The Athletic has previously reported how voters in the World Cup bidding process were disturbed to read reports in the American media that claimed Trump had caused offense by asking why his country should accept immigrants from “s***hole” countries such as Haiti in the Caribbean and some African nations. The State Department did not answer when asked whether it is able to clarify which countries will receive travel bans and how this would be consistent with Trump’s assurances of access to the U.S. made to FIFA in 2018.

While the challenges of visa wait times differ from country to country, there are some significant shared challenges due to the new administration’s policies. A Presidential Memorandum has initiated a hiring freeze, while State Department employees warned others are exiting the service; either via retirements or deciding to leave.

Travis Murphy, the founder of Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment and a former American diplomat said: “The wait times will absolutely see the impact of staff reductions. … Wait times are only going to go up, not down.”

Freeman, the CEO of U.S. Travel, warns that “45 per cent of the travelers that visit the United States come from countries where a visa is required. We’re talking Brazil, Colombia, Argentina. These are all countries where visas are required. If you look at Colombia, the wait time to get an interview for a visa is over 700 days. The window is closed. The visa issue is absolutely critical to the success of the ’26 World Cup.”

Since winning the presidential election in November, Trump has signposted his support for FIFA’s tournaments in the U.S. and most clearly for Infantino. At an address in Miami during the Saudi-backed FII Summit last week, Trump asked Infantino to stand up to be applauded and described the FIFA president as “the most important person, at least until the World Cup is over,” calling him “the king of soccer.”

Yet it remains to be seen whether the administration’s policies and relationship on a working level with FIFA may contradict this stance. FIFA, it should be said, did not have it all their own way with the Biden administration, and The Athletic reported in April 2024 how FIFA had raised the matter of visa wait times in a meeting at the White House last spring. Multiple sources familiar with the current state of play said that FIFA officials had been struggling to make meaningful progress with Rubio, who has yet to meet FIFA representatives in person. A FIFA spokesperson said the organization did meet with the Secretary of State’s deputy chief of staff, along with White House officials, during the past month and that Rubio requested background points on the conversation.

One of FIFA’s most recent hires in this space is Wodka, the new head of immigration. According to his LinkedIn page, he formerly worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “responsible for implementing the Biden administration’s immigration priorities,” while he previously worked directly for Trump’s presidential rival, Harris. Before that, he directed the financial operations of her bid to become a senator.

Several sources speculated as to how he would be received within Trump’s administration, which has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to immigration. The State Department did not comment.

Freeman, the U.S. Travel CEO, believes further steps are needed, specifically the “creation of an interagency task force led out of the White House” to bring about a degree of central control and ownership of the matter. It is not only the World Cup that may be impacted, as U.S. Travel estimates that 40 million people could visit the U.S. for the World Cup, the Olympics, Paralympics, 2025 Ryder Cup and America’s 250th birthday in 2026. He says that the World Cup will prove a “great test” as to whether the administration can simultaneously manage its border more effectively, while also encouraging travel.

One positive for FIFA is that it has worked with the State Department to find a way to verify legitimate visitors who form part of the traveling party for national teams, federations, support staff and sponsors, although the government declined to explain how this will work in practice. There is no such system for fans.

48 teams will be vying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy, but fans from all of those nations may have a difficult time seeing it in personPhoto by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

For supporters, a nervous wait may beckon. This week, the State Department declined to answer how the U.S. government intends to resolve these challenges, or set out any plan at all, when asked by The Athletic. It, along with the White House, also did not comment when asked if both Trump and the State Department maintain the position set out by the president in his guarantees to FIFA seven years ago. It also did not respond when asked to outline the importance of the tournament to the U.S.

Murphy, the former diplomat, said: “The president is a sports fan and has said he is supportive of the World Cup, but at a working level, there thus far does not appear to be a plan in place that makes this a priority. Overall, teams, federations and sponsors will likely be fine, but there will be real issues for fans. In addition to extended wait times, clearance processes for visas are only getting more diligent.”

As the clock ticks down, some within the State Department are wondering whether the U.S. government may pivot to arguing for an America-first approach to filling the stadiums at the World Cup, which would be a departure from FIFA’s usual mission of attracting the world to its mega-events.

Murphy concludes: “There’s a philosophical discussion at play here: do we as a country and as a government want first-time visa applicants to travel for this event? There has been a lot of talk and commitments made about this being an open and inclusive event. But, increasingly, I think we have to face the reality that this will be an event for people who are traveling from ESTA countries who can travel with a visa waiver or who already have a visa. I assume that’s not what FIFA wants. And I don’t think that has — at least not publicly — been the position of the United States.

“There are also many other events that would ostensibly benefit from international visitors in 2026, including the World Baseball Classic and celebrations around the 250th anniversary of the United States. For that, the president has indicated that he wants there to be a year-long state fair and have people from around the world attend. But how do we reconcile that when wait times exceed two and three years at major embassies?”

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