АНУ-ын ерөнхийлөгч Дональд Трамп 2026 оны эрэгтэйчүүдийн хөлбөмбөгийн дэлхийн аварга шалгаруулах тэмцээнийг түүхэн дэх хамгийн гайхалтай тэмцээн хэмээн тодорхойлж, ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантины ажлыг өндрөөр үнэлэв.
Ням гарагт болсон Испани болон Аргентины шигшээ багуудын хоорондох шигшээ тоглолтын үеэр Испани 1:0 харьцаагаар хожил байгуулж, аварга болсон юм. Тоглолтын дараах ёслолын үеэр Дональд Трамп цомыг гардуулахад оролцсон ч үзэгчдийн зүгээс эсэргүүцэлтэй тулгарч, хүчтэй исгэрэлт сонсжээ. Тэмцээний туршид Дональд Трамп нийт 104 тоглолтоос зөвхөн энэхүү шигшээ тоглолтыг биечлэн үзсэн байна.
Тэмцээний зохион байгуулалтын хувьд 6.8 сая үзэгч цуглуулж, 99.7 хувийн дүүргэлттэй байсан нь амжилттай гэж үнэлэгдсэн ч олон улсын шүүмжлэлүүд дагалдлаа. Ялангуяа АНУ-ын довтлогч Фоларин Балогуны улаан хуудасны шийтгэлийг Дональд Трампын хүсэлтээр цуцалсан явдал нь ФИФА-гийн нэр хүндэд сөргөөр нөлөөлж, олон улсын байгууллагуудын хардлагыг төрүүлсэн юм.
ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч асан Зепп Блаттер тэмцээний дараа хөлбөмбөгийн ертөнц улс төрийн нөлөөнд автаж, итгэлцлээ алдсаныг онцлон шүүмжилжээ. Тэмцээний тасалбарын үнэ хэт өндөр байсан нь жирийн үзэгчдийг талбайгаас холдуулсан гэж үздэг ч спортын хувьд 48 багийн оролцоотой тэмцээн нь өрсөлдөөнтэй болсныг шинжээчид тэмдэглэв.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
United States President Donald Trump has declared this the 2026 men’s World Cup “the most spectacular by far” and praised FIFA’s Gianni Infantino for elevating the tournament “to a level that nobody thought was possible.”
Trump, who watchedSpain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in Sunday’s final sitting next to the FIFA president in a suite at MetLife Stadium, also praised Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the World Cup Task Force.
Trump has attended many sporting events throughout his two presidential terms and while campaigning. His appearance at the final in New Jersey was the only match of the World Cup’s 104 games at which he was present.
“The World Cup turned out to be a spectacular success,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I want to thank all of those involved but, in particular, our great law enforcement. The respect that everyone has for them, together with their love of our country, kept this great championship the safest and most spectacular World Cup in history, BY FAR!
“Thank you also to all others involved and, in particular, to young and dynamic Andrew Giuliani, working for the Government of the United States of America, and the fantastic president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, on a job well done! Few people will ever be able to accomplish what he has done in elevating the World Cup to a level that nobody thought was possible.”
Trump, 80, was booed loudly by fans at the final as he took to the pitch for the post-game trophy ceremony alongside Infantino. The two awarded medals to the Argentine and Spanish players before they jointly carried the trophy to Spain’s Rodri.
After handing over the trophy to the winning captain, Infantino tried to usher Trump out of the picture, but the U.S. president lingered on the podium and stood beside Spain’s players as Rodri lifted the trophy.
Earlier this month, Trump praised Infantino for “another great decision” by enabling Folarin Balogun to have a one-game ban suspended, which followed a call by Trump to the FIFA president about the U.S. striker’s red card and led to a major World Cup controversy.
Flo Balogun’s red card is being suspended. Here’s why that’s controversial.
Henry Bushnell and Jayne Orenstein
Infantino has denied being part of the decision to reverse that one-match ban for a last-16 tie against Belgium, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) — of which Infantino is a member — asked to investigate whether he was involved in that decision.
Therequest was made by FairSquare, and forms part of a wider complaint fromthe non-profit organisation alleging Infantino publicly supported Trump on five occasions.The IOC’s charter states that members must act independently of political and commercial interests, and cannot accept “from governments, organisations, or other parties, any mandate or instructions liable to interfere with the freedom of their action and vote.”
FIFA and Trump co-hosted a reception at Trump Tower before Sunday’s final, with the head of world football’s governing body telling Trump they had “exceeded all expectations” with the tournament.
Meanwhile, Sepp Blatter — Infantino’s predecessor as World Cup president and a long-term critic of the 56-year-old — posted on his social media on Tuesday that the World Cup “has lost credibility.”
Blatter said: “Politics must not be allowed to overshadow the game. Now it is up to the fans, players and national associations to reclaim football and bring it back to its roots under new leadership.”
Was the World Cup as much of a success as Trump says?
Let’s start with some positives by engaging on Trump’s level: ratings. It was the best-attended World Cup in history, although that clearly doesn’t mean a huge amount because it had the most matches in World Cup history. But according to FIFA, just over 6.8 million people attended games across 16 stadiums in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, at an average of 65,490 per game: that is the second-best figure in tournament history, behind only the previous World Cup to be hosted in America, in 1994. FIFA also claims a 99.7 per cent occupancy rate at the games, which by any measure is incredibly impressive.
On the pitch, it also produced a string of brilliant storylines and great football, from Lionel Messi’s continued excellence, Kylian Mbappe becoming the first man to reach double figures at a World Cup since Gerd Muller in 1970, to the remarkable underdog story of Cape Verde. The fears that the expanded format, with 48 teams rather than 32, would dilute the quality of the football and spectacle of the tournament, proved unfounded.
This World Cup was the best-attended edition ever (Imagn Images via Reuters/Steven Bisig)
However, the list of negatives is lengthy. Iran were not allowed to compete on an equal footing with anyone else, forced to move their base because of visa issues with some of their travelling party.
Many fans from countries that qualified could not travel to the U.S. due to various travel bans, and the activist group Football Supporters Europe claimed there was “unprecedented exclusion” and that “FIFA walks away from this World Cup with its reputation with supporters totally shattered having opened a void for distrust.”
The World Cup final took the title of the most expensive sporting event ever, which Trump and Infantino might regard as a positive, but it meant all outside the richest people in the world were either excluded from the event or had to spend more than they could reasonably afford to attend it. Ticket prices for matches throughout the tournament were also a constant issue for many fans.
And then there’s the Balogun affair, when Trump called Infantino to ask that the USA striker’s suspension, after he was sent off in their game against Paraguay, be reconsidered, which it duly was. It was the first time since 1962 that a player was sent off at the World Cup, and did not serve a suspension in their next game at the tournament.
So was it a ‘spectacular’ success? No, but you won’t be able to persuade Trump of that.
Nick Miller
