“The magic on the pitch during the World Cup has a way of erasing everything that happens off it – for better or worse,” writes Kyle Feldscher | Analysis

That’s not to say that the politics and policy that have dominated the headlines in the days before the tournament will disappear – there’s a real chance they linger throughout, like Trump during the presentation of the Club World Cup trophy after last summer’s final.

The World Cup typically takes over its host country and turns it into FIFA’s idealized state for the four- or five-week tournament, becoming a unifying global celebration of sport.

Perhaps more than any other tournament, this World Cup is taking on the personality of one of the host countries: It will be big and fun, but it will also be extremely expensive and bring a lot of money into FIFA’s coffers. It will be a party, but the tinge of controversy will never be far away. Fans from around the world will celebrate together and teach each other about their cultures, but there will also be criticisms lobbed at the Trump administration over how foreign visitors to the US are being treated.

All those contradictions combine to create one very on-point picture of the United States in 2026. It makes for a very American World Cup.