.jpg?trim=25,0,25,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "FIFA president says Trump will be at the World Cup final to present trophy to winners – UK Times")
FIFA President Gianni Infantino revealed on Tuesday that President Donald Trump will attend at least one World Cup 2026 match — the final.
Infantino told Fox & Friends that he and Trump would be present during the tournament’s final match to hand out the World Cup trophy to the victors.
“We will be together with the president enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner of course,” Infantino said.
Trump has been noticeably absent from the World Cup tournament thus far, including snubbing both the U.S. Men’s National Team’s opening match with Paraguay and subsequent showdown with Australia.
While obviously a busy man, Trump has managed to carve out time to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York — the only game the New York Knicks lost — and to watch UFC 250, which took place on the White House lawn.
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Trump reportedly called the U.S. Men’s National Team earlier this week to tell them “I think you’ve got a really good chance of going all the way,” according to The Athletic.
Perhaps his reception at the Knicks game has persuaded him to avoid venues filled with likely hostile crowds. During his visit to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks, Trump was met with boos from the crowd. After the Knicks lost, fans filmed themselves burning sage outside the arena ahead of Game 4 to purge what they said was the bad energy the president had brought.
Even if some fans may not like Trump, it’s clear the president can count on the doting adoration of FIFA’s president, Infantino.
The Swiss-born World Cup chief has been fairly open in his efforts to win Trump over, even going so far as to create a FIFA World Peace prize just to give to the president after he was denied the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
Infantino’s Fox News appearance comes just a day after The Telegraph published a story looking at Trump’s absence at the tournament.
The paper talked with Trump’s World Cup task force chief Andrew Giuliani, who essentially said that the president hasn’t made an appearance yet because he wants to keep people guessing.
“I know he’s got a couple of international trips that he has planned as well as Independence Day, so the only thing I’ll tell you about my boss—and I’ve known him for, heck, 30 years, and he’s kind of like an uncle figure to me—he likes a good cliffhanger, right?” he told the paper.
He said Trump “likes to leave people watching, so all I can tell you is ‘keep tuned in’, and I’m excited to see what the next steps are.”
This is a developing story.
.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Andy Burnham edges closer to coronation as leadership rivals struggle to garner support – UK Times")