Trump Jokes About U.S. Exit, Urges Solo World Cup Bid Before 2026 Final

Q: With a solo US bid proposed, is the era of multi-country World Cups over?

No. A solo U.S. bid would not mean the end of multi-country World Cups; it would signal that FIFA is keeping both models open. The clearest evidence is the calendar itself. The 2026 World Cup is being staged by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the 2030 tournament will be even more multinational, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco as main hosts and opening matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. That shows FIFA is still willing to use shared hosting, especially as the event has expanded to 48 teams and 104 matches. At the same time, FIFA is not locked into co-hosting. Saudi Arabia is set to host 2034 alone, showing that a single-country format remains viable when one nation can meet infrastructure, transport and commercial demands. The United States is one of the few countries with enough stadiums, hotels and security capacity to do that on its own, which makes Trump’s idea plausible in practical terms. What is changing is less an “era ending” than FIFA’s flexibility. Multi-country bids help spread costs, use existing venues and satisfy rotation rules. Solo bids work when a host can absorb the scale and when FIFA wants a more compact tournament. So the likely future is mixed: co-hosting will remain common, particularly for expanded tournaments, but strong standalone hosts such as the U.S. will still be serious options.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 18

At a FIFA reception in Trump Tower, Donald Trump interrupted Gianni Infantino’s speech with “Unless your team loses,” a jab at the U.S. men’s team’s early World Cup elimination.
The exchange came as Infantino praised FIFA as a source of “joy and happiness” and credited Trump with helping make the tournament a success ahead of Sunday’s Spain-Argentina final at MetLife Stadium.
Trump used the event to urge FIFA to award a future World Cup to the United States alone, saying Canada and Mexico should be left out after the current joint hosting arrangement.
He also said Infantino had floated a future U.S.-China co-hosting idea and again defended the overturned red-card suspension for Folarin Balogun, a decision Trump has said he personally pushed Infantino to review.