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Global Leaders Leverage the World Cup Against Trump
With the FIFA World Cup as leverage, allies are rethinking how to respond to Trump’s norm-breaking without sanctions or war
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In the seemingly interminable week since Trump stormed through Davos, trampling all over international norms with his threats to take Greenland (or “Iceland,” depending on the day) by force, our allies have had to reckon with an existential threat to the established world order and how to deal with it. It was the latest in a string of geopolitical outbursts from the guy who extorted his way into taking someone else’s Nobel Peace Prize.
And it’s got Europe thinking about how to respond. An interesting countermeasure has been discussed in small pockets of the continent, and the chatter is getting louder.
Boycott the World Cup.
The idea is gaining traction. French and British politicians have circulated petitions. A Dutch petition got about 140,000 signatures. The VP of the German Football Association pitched the idea last week. Two dozen European soccer association leaders talked about it in Budapest. A long time coach of African nations’ teams signaled his support.
Leaders pointed to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics after Russia invaded Afghanistan. Soft power isn’t a foreign language.
The U.S. is hosting 78 out of 104 FIFA World Cup matches this summer. That’s a lot of leverage. Here’s how the rest of the world could use it.
This Isn’t Just a Game
FIFA has more member states than the UN. It’s the largest sports organization in the world and The World Cup is the most watched event in the world. An entire tournament gets about 5 billion views (the Super Bowl could never).
Landing a bid to host the World Cup is a years-long process, and winning is a marker of international legitimacy. Trump knows it, which is why he’s been bragging about personally “getting” the World Cup since the U.S. secured the bid alongside Canada and Mexico in 2018. It was so important to him he made it one of the greatest hits on his broken record reelection speeches in 2024.
The economic upside for hosting a World Cup is enormous. The World Trade Organization projects the tournament could generate $30.5 billion for the U.S.
There’s a lot to lose. Like I said, leverage.
Don’t Expect Guests if You’re a Bad Host
It wouldn’t be an overreaction for the rest of the world to boycott the tournament. Trump’s caused seemingly innumerable international incidents since taking office a year ago. (ONE YEAR AGO.) Any one of them could justify a response.
Besides the most recent Greenland situation, there was the military raid on Venezuela and kidnapping of their President, Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Then there was, “Cuba’s next. Also Colombia. Also Mexico.”
Sending a “flotilla” no one asked for towards Iran.
Airstrikes on fishing boats in the Caribbean. Airstrikes in Nigeria.
Threatening to annex Canada. And Panama.
Then there was the pause on U.S. visa applications from 75 countries, many of them World Cup qualifiers. All that, and a proposal to scrutinize foreign tourists’ social media on arrival has sports officials and commentators legitimately worried.
And nevermind the sickening anti-immigrant sentiment broadcast around the world via images and video coming out of Minneapolis. On top of that, the administration refused to rule out ICE raids at World Cup games during a press conference in December.
Trump’s hardly rolling out the welcome mat for World Cup fans. If he pisses them off enough to drive them away, it will be a huge blow to a tourism sector that’s already been decimated.
The Costs Are Astronomical
Last year, the U.S. was projected to lose $12.5 billion in international spending. International tourists support almost 20 million jobs. They generate $585 billion in tax revenue – that’s almost 7% of the government’s income for the year.
Trump sent DOGE on a slash and burn campaign against federal workers keeping the wheels turning, meanwhile he’s triggered his own financial hemorrhage.
He’s made the U.S. such an inhospitable tourism destination, more than a dozen countries issued travel warnings. After Trump’s threats to annex Canada, the country mounted a travel boycott that saw 26% fewer Canadian visitors last year. UK travelers were down 15%. South Korea, double digit drop.
Are you sensing a pattern here?
The U.S. was the only major tourism market in the world to decline in 2025.
We rely on our friends and neighbors from abroad to power our economy. And if there’s yelling and screaming inside the house, if we’re terrorizing our own citizens, they’re going to take their business elsewhere.
Nothing’s Beyond the Pale
A World Cup boycott would be an extraordinary measure, and it would take enormous effort and coordination from the rest of the world. But it’s not without precedent. Individual countries have boycotted the World Cup in the past - Uruguay bowed out of Italy in the 30s, African nations withdrew in the 60s.
There’s no precedent for a coordinated boycott by multiple teams for purely political reasons, but these are, as always, unprecedented times. Skeptics point to the fact that no one boycotted Qatar or Russia when they hosted, both countries with horrendous human rights records.
But the U.S. has always been held to a higher international standard. It’s always been, “that could never happen here.” But we have images out of Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, and Chicago that look like war zones. It’s happening here.
Soft Power is a Sharp Tool
Trump’s unhinged performance at Davos capped off a spectacular run of international chaos that left the rest of the world’s jaws on the floor.
But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pitched a path forward in his speech there, urging medium-sized countries to work together to reforge a world order without us. Those alliances will necessitate new kinds of strategies for countering Trump’s volatile and impulsive foreign policy using the tools at their disposal.
Sports and tourism can be smart strategic alternatives to military action or economic sanctions. They’re sources of legitimacy and prestige, two things Trump’s fragile ego needs to survive.
He’s a clout chaser. Starve him of the attention he so desperately craves and eventually he’ll cave.
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