The 2026 World Cup, in Trump’s Shadow

This essay examines President Donald Trump’s rhetorical interventions in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is inspired by Eduardo Galeano’s Soccer in Sun and Shadow, which interprets football as a mirror reflecting broader political, cultural, and economic realities. My analysis explores how Trump commandeered the World Cup through spectacle, transforming it into a stage for symbolically demonstrating his power and indulging his ego. The president’s rhetorical behavior is explored and critiqued through three case studies and a final vignette: (1) the establishment of a White House World Cup Task Force, (2) the president’s threats to relocate matches from Democratic-led cities, (3) the World Cup draw featuring Trump receiving a fabricated FIFA Peace Prize, and (4) the U.S. war with Iran. What emerges are the many ways in which Trump’s shadow over the build-up to the 2026 World Cup has obscured the sporting content of the competition for the president’s own political and personal purposes.