New Jersey [US], July 20 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) said that the country would seek to host the FIFA World Cup again, expressing confidence in Washington’s successful staging of the tournament and how it thus made a strong case for another bid.
He made the remarks in an interview to Fox Sports ahead of the football final between Argentina and Spain, taking place at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Trump said the overwhelming response to the World Cup had exceeded expectations and that the US would “be requesting it again immediately.”
“Based on the numbers, we will be requesting it again immediately… We have to do this again, and we have to do it while I’m around. You hear that, Gianni?” Trump said, referring to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Trump also suggested that FIFA could alternate host announcements to ease disappointment among bidding nations.
“I had a great idea for Gianni. I said, you have to do two countries. So announce us again next time and announce another country after that. That’ll take out some of the anger and the shock,” he said.
Trump in his interview with Fox Sports noted how the global football carnival resulted in tremendous footfall and money being spent in the country as fans from across the world flew to the United States.
“We’re the hottest country in the world right now… For lot of other reasons, we have trillions of dollars being spent in the United States. They’re (people) coming from all over the world and spending their money here. We’ve never had a period of, I call it the golden age of America. It’s amazing… the World Cup has really helped. It’s been tremendous…Nobody thought it was possible. The numbers that it’s many times what’s ever been done before. So that’s great,” Trump told Fox News.
When asked why sport plays such an important role in uniting people around the world, Trump described it as a universal language.
“It’s just universal. It’s a microcosm of life. You win, lose. But with sports, you see it over a two-hour period. In life, you go a whole life before you realize whether or not you’re a winner or a loser,” he said.
Spain and Argentina are facing each other at the FIFA Final 2026, set to claim the ultimate glory in front of a crowd of over 80,000, as per the official website of FIFA.
It noted that while Spain is appearing in its second Final, being the World Cup winners in 2010, Argentina is looking to lift the Trophy for a fourth time following triumphs in 1978, 1986 and 2022 – also appearing in the 1930, 1990 and 2014 Finals.
As per the website, the sides have only met once previously at the World Cup, when Argentina won 2-1 in 1966. (ANI)
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