Comedian John Bishop has called for a boycott of the 2026 World Cup, branding hosting the tournament in Donald Trump’s America “a complete embarrassment”.
From 11 June to 19 July, the international football competition will be hosted in the US along with Canada and Mexico. However, in the wake of the crackdown by ICE agents across the US, and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, there have been calls for football fans to boycott the tournament.
A former semi-professional footballer and Liverpool fan, Bishop appeared on Absolute Radio on Thursday (29 January) when he was asked how he was feeling about the upcoming World Cup.
Bishop – who was being interviewed about Is This Thing On?, Bradley Cooper’s Hollywood film based on his life – responded: “My feeling is boycott it. Honestly, I think the World Cup is a joke.
“I think Fifa giving Donald Trump a big rosette and a peace prize has undermined everything that football’s about. I think the fact it’s being played in a country that’s threatening not to give visas to the players, to the staff, to the fans; I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s a complete embarrassment.”
Bishop then joked to presenters Ansy Bush and Richie Firth: “That wasn’t the answer you were expecting, was it? It’s not exactly ‘three lions on your chest’, is it? But I think the World Cup is now a joke. I don’t think I’ll be giving it any time. It’s really undermined what football’s all about.”
As a footballer, Bishop played as a midfielder for teams including Hyde United, Crewe Alexandra and Southport. The Liverpudlian comedian is the inspiration for Is This Thing On?, which is directed by Bradley Cooper and stars Will Arnett as a man who starts stand-up comedy after his marriage ends.
Calls to boycott the World Cup in protest against Trump were initially stoked last week in the wake of the President’s bid to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to NATO member Denmark.
More have called for boycott as protests against the use of immigration agents in the US, including ex-Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
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On Monday (26 January), Blatter wrote on social media in support of Mark Pieth, a Swiss anti-corruption lawyer who has advised fans to avoid travelling to the US in the wake of “abuses by immigration services”.
Quoting Pieth and echoing his message, Blatter wrote on X: “‘For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!’ I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”
