Historically, the United States has used Hollywood, music, universities, and sports as instruments of international projection. Yet the 2026 World Cup exposes a contradiction: while the country seeks to present itself as the host of the world’s greatest sporting spectacle, the Trump administration has intensified policies associated with hard power, particularly in the field of immigration.

The FIFA World Cup has always transcended the boundaries of sport. Since its inception, the tournament has constituted a privileged space for the projection of power, the construction of national legitimacy, and the symbolic affirmation of great powers. Football, frequently presented as a universal language capable of uniting peoples and cultures, became throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century a strategic instrument of political, diplomatic, and ideo