The World Cup is coming to America—and It has a plan to keep Trump onside

It was one of his regular check-ins with President Trump ahead of the largest undertaking in the history of professional sports—a monthlong, 48-team tournament, held across 16 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with over 1.2 million fans expected to flood in from abroad. Even for FIFA, which has organized the World Cup since 1930, the logistics are staggering.

So Infantino was visibly taken aback when Trump faced a bank of cameras and suggested stripping games from Boston over his displeasure with the city’s Democratic mayor.

“If somebody is doing a bad job and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions," Trump said, “I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location.’ And he would do that."

FIFA has insisted that no venue changes are in the cards. But the mere suggestion of a White House-ordered switch was a powerful reminder that Trump’s influence on the 2026 World Cup will be impossible to ignore. He will be ever present on World Cup matters through next summer, starting from Friday, when the president is expected to join Infantino at the Kennedy Center for the tournament draw.

“I have a great relationship with President Trump, where I consider him a really close friend," Infantino said during a November appearance at the America Business Forum in Miami. “He has such incredible energy and this is something that I really admire."

For global soccer, this World Cup was supposed to be the easy, uncomplicated one, after editions in Vladimir Putin’s Russia in 2018 and the petrostate of Qatar in 2022, where the country’s human rights record dominated headlines about the tournament for over 10 years. But the unpredictable nature of Trump’s off-the-cuff statements and sweeping policy decisions have injected a heavy dose of uncertainty into tournament preparations.

In the buildup to kickoff, Infantino has gone to unprecedented lengths to keep his host onside—right down to hiring the same band to perform at the draw that Trump likes to dance to at his rallies, the Village People.

This has been the tenor of their public camaraderie for years now: Trump lending support to international soccer projects in America, and Infantino popping up in Trump’s orbit when it’s least expected. A 55-year-old lawyer from Switzerland, he attended the presidential inauguration as Trump’s guest last January. In October, he was also present in Sharm El Sheikh as Trump announced the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. And over the summer, when Trump suggested they catch up over the phone, Infantino insisted on meeting in person.

“Gianni’s been so incredible," Trump said. “He said, ‘I’ll come, I’ll come.’ And he flew all night long to be here and listen to this about how great we’re doing in D.C."

That was one of at least half a dozen visits that Infantino has made from FIFA headquarters in Zurich to the Oval Office, where a replica of the World Cup trophy now sits behind the president’s desk.

Inside FIFA, those close to Infantino argue that a strong relationship between the leader organizing the tournament and the leader of the country hosting it is essential. Infantino is simply playing his role as a diplomat and a realist, a person familiar with his thinking said, in the interest of ensuring a smooth World Cup. But anyone who has watched Infantino operate since taking over FIFA in 2016 knows that proximity to power is part of the job’s appeal.

“He does things," Infantino said of Trump last month. “He does what he says. He says what he thinks. He actually says what many people think as well, but maybe don’t dare to say and that’s why he’s so successful. I have to say it and I’m a bit surprised sometimes when we read some negative comments."

But in Trump, Infantino sees an ally to be cultivated, a landlord to be placated, and even a casual soccer fan. Trump’s own history with the game extends much further back than this World Cup. He played for a season in high school at the New York Military Academy. His son Barron is a known Arsenal fan. And in one bizarre cameo, he appeared on British television from Trump Tower to assist with the draw for the fifth round of the 1991 Rumbelows Cup.

None of those, however, will compare to the prestige or global reach of overseeing the World Cup and handing the trophy to the winning captain at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium next July.

“This will be your most successful World Cup ever," Trump told Infantino during one White House visit.

Which isn’t to say that Trump has always helped Infantino keep things on track. In June, he signed an executive order to “fully restrict and limit the entry of nationals" from 12 countries. Only two of them, Haiti and Iran, have now qualified for the World Cup, leaving them in a situation where they might not be able to bring fans, journalists, or even support staff to the tournament.

Neither FIFA nor the White House have said whether exemptions will be made between now and next summer. In the meantime, Iran’s soccer federation said it planned to boycott Friday’s draw after several members of its delegation were denied visas to travel to the U.S.

Even so, FIFA has been careful to avoid any criticism of the U.S. government. In fact, the tone of Friday’s event will be the exact opposite, a celebration of the World Cup hosts. Last month, Infantino even announced that the program in D.C. would include the first annual FIFA Peace Prize to recognize “the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace."

The timing may not be a coincidence. The award is widely expected to go to Trump.

Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com