In FIFA's bizarre courting of Trump, has it forgotten that the game is meant for all?

Last Friday,  I and millions of people around the world watched The Village Peopleperform a terribly off-cue rendition of the iconic song YMCA in outfits that have not aged well. Donald Trump thrust his fists into the air in what seemed to be an attempt at dancing.

This whole scenario was the bow that wrapped up a bizarre and theatrical FIFA 2026 Men’s World Cup Draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The event featured a ridiculously forced presentation of Trump receiving FIFA’s inaugural “Peace Prize” — the selection process being led by a “Myanmar junta crony” and head of FIFA’s social responsibility committee with a very suspicious background. (FIFA president Gianni Infantino was subsquently accused of breaching the organization's "political neutrality" for the award.)

It followed with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Trump on the stage with Infantino moderating the beginning of the draw. The heads of the co-hosting nations initially looked like they were in a warped episode of Jeopardy! on the stage.

After the draws to sort out which host nation was in which group, the circus continued. A series of American athletes (not soccer players) were punctuating the stage at various times of the draw. 

While it was aggravating to see more American football players than FIFA legends, there were so few women except for Michelle Kang (owner of multiple women’s professional teams) and former USWNT member Carli Lloyd. 

How the FIFA World Cup draw played out for Canada

But despite what was a weird attempt to bow to American culture, the announcement of groups and the upcoming competition is exactly what the world wanted to see. And the FIFA Men’s World Cup is precisely what the world