TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The eyes of the political world have been firmly fixed on Washington for the whole of 2025 and, on Friday, the eyes of the football world will join them for the 2026 World Cup draw.
Gianni Infantino, the president of world football's governing body, FIFA, will be the ringmaster. But even the most powerful man in the world's biggest sport will likely be in the shadow of US President Donald Trump despite the very public friendship the two men have formed.
"I'm really lucky. I have a great relationship with President Trump, who I consider really a close friend," Infantino said recently of a friendship that has also included a recent photo op with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal star was subsequently given a part-suspended ban for a highly unusual red card in World Cup qualifying that would normally have seen him miss Portugal's first two tournament matches.
"Of course, he's been very, very helpful in everything we do for the World Cup," Infantino continued on Trump. "He has such an incredible energy and this is something that I really admire. He does things. He does what he says. He says what he thinks. He says, actually, what many people think as well, but maybe don't dare to say."
Given that the US will host most matches in the 2026 tournament, with a handful in neighboring Canada and Mexico, a closer working relationship between the two men is normal, according to Sylvia Schenk.
A Friendship Born of Convenience?
"It's all about the situation," Schenk, a German former Olympic runner who has worked in sports as a volunteer for Transparency International, told DW. She was also a member of FIFA's independent Human Rights Advisory Board and is an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) .
"If the World Cup weren't happening in the US, Trump wouldn't be bothered about Infantino. So that's the starting point. And the same other way around. Infantino needs a good tournament next year and for that he needs a working relationship with Trump."
Schenk said that finding a balanced and stable dynamic with Trump has been beyond most world leaders, and Infantino must tread a delicate line. But she also believes the pair have similar character traits.
"They are both vain and both want to be flattered and both have a very, very, very big ego," said Schenk, who spent time with Infantino during her work with FIFA. She added that she has seen less interest in human rights issues from Infantino the longer he has been in power.
No Politics but Peace Prize for FIFA
FIFA, under Infantino, have emphasized political neutrality, purporting to ensure an absence of political interference and a certain standard of human rights in its associations as well as banning overtly political gestures from players or coaches.
And though Infantino is required to have a relationship with Trump, his presence at the Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks with the US president was the latest in a series of appearances on the political stage which have raised eyebrows.
As has Infantino's decision to introduce a FIFA Peace Prize, to be awarded on Friday at the draw a mile from the White House. Though the recipient is not confirmed, it's not a huge leap to imagine it will go to Trump, who lost out on the much-coveted, and much longer-established Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition activist Maria Corina Machado just a few weeks before FIFA launched their version.
"The question is whether Infantino is doing too much and I think a Peace Prize would be far too much," said Schenk.
Trump has made a series of policy decisions, and statements that will have a bearing on the tournament. Last week, the Iranian soccer federation said they will not be sending anyone to the draw after a lack of visa guarantees for their delegates. Iran is one of several countries on Trump's travel ban list, along with fellow qualifiers Haiti. Exceptions are made for athletes and some, but apparently not all, support staff. No fans from those nations on the list will be able to travel to the US.
Infantino's Tightrope Walk
"The last time the FIFA president was present in the national team's dressing room was the 2025 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) final against Uzbekistan, when he announced to the Iranian players that the Iranian convoy's presence would be guaranteed from the beginning of the draw ceremony until the last day of the national team's participation in the World Cup, including workshops," the federation's spokesperson Amir Mehdi Alavi told Iranian outlet Tarafdari.
Such disputes threaten Infantino's high-wire act with Trump, as does the president's threat earlier in November, when he again floated moving matches away from Democrat-controlled cities. "If we think there's going to be a sign of any trouble, I would ask [Infantino] to move that to a different city," Trump said.
Schenk said this kind of political situation may force Infantino to stand up to Trump, though there are no guarantees in that regard.
"I think in the end he probably has to. But if Trump one day says — in four weeks, in February or whenever — 'We will move games from Los Angeles to whatever other city' it will be very, very difficult for FIFA to say: ‘We don't accept the risk analysis of the government of the US, we think it's safe and we will stay there.' This is risky too."
Whether Trump and Infantino's friendship is genuine, or a PR match of convenience, will likely be tested even more severely in the six months preceding the opener, in Mexico City on June 11. The International Olympic Committee will surely face similar tests when the Olympics arrive in LA in 2028.
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