Recent events in football have drawn attention to criticism of FIFA's role, which, according to the author, publicly supports American imperialism. In the context of the 2026 World Cup, questions are being raised about how global sports reflect world contradictions.
Last week, the Egyptian national team achieved a historic success by defeating Australia and becoming the second Arab team to advance to the 16th round of the 2026 World Cup. Egypt's coach, Hossam Hassan, dedicated the victory to his team and the residents of Gaza, many of whom watched the match amidst the ruins.
Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano argued that football is 'a mirror of everything,' as it has always reflected the character of the world in which it is played, both its bright and dark aspects. The current World Cup, in the author's view, legitimizes the revival of imperial barbarism while confirming universal humanity through collective joy.
A few days before celebrating Egyptian captain Mohamed Salah at Dallas Stadium, Israeli forces fatally wounded Salim al-Ashkar, a 32-year-old Palestinian goalkeeper who was seeking fuel for his pregnant wife. He became one of the 567 Palestinians killed by Israel in the football sector since October 2023. The author believes that the tournament serves as a metaphor for the global system that causes destruction, depletes resources, and denies sovereignty in the Global South.
These crimes, for which FIFA has not yet sanctioned the Israeli Football Association, have not stopped the Palestinian people. On Tuesday, spectators gathered in Gaza City to watch the Egypt versus Argentina match featuring Lionel Messi. Despite the Israeli genocide damaging or destroying 90 percent of the enclave's infrastructure and undermining Gaza's power grids, broadcasts were conducted using small generators. Children waved flags on the rubble of destroyed buildings, and fans greeted Yasser Ibrahim's goal where their homes once stood.
However, even this brief respite could not stop the occupying Israeli forces. An hour before the match began, aid worker Mohamed Al-Wahidi, who organized the live broadcast in Gaza, was killed by an Israeli strike while en route to watch the game. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to use the weeks of the World Cup to escalate the war against Palestinian football. Meanwhile, FIFA is unwilling to let this distract from the 'most successful event in history.'
The tournament, which FIFA President Gianni Infantino proclaimed, has been marked by the detention and deportation of top referees, hours-long interrogations of players, and a complete refusal of a visa for the head of the Palestinian Football Association. All of this is permitted due to the impunity that FIFA grants to Israel for crimes against humanity. By failing to hold its member association accountable, the football governing body has effectively sanctioned the revival of colonial racism, which has recently been employed by US authorities against fans, coaches, and athletes.
The author argues that this is not sports laundering but a public endorsement of Washington's imperial project in front of the entire world. Infantino, who previously insisted that 'football must remain apolitical,' is carefully building FIFA's position as a reliable accomplice in US President Donald Trump's assault on international law. Nothing is taboo when appeasing the main host of the 2026 tournament, not even on the field. Reports suggest that Trump, to whom Infantino presented the first FIFA World Prize in December 2025, convinced football authorities to lift the suspension of American forward and top scorer Folarin Balogun with just one phone call.
While many focus on this dirty detail, they assume that FIFA maintains adherence to the spirit of sport. The Iranian national team, which was forbidden from setting up a base camp in the United States, knows otherwise. They are not alone in this. Before the Haiti match, FIFA required the team to change its uniform to remove references to the revolution that created the first black republic, stating that 'political messages' were prohibited.
Mexico, which will not host any World Cup matches after the 16th round, is also familiar with the tournament's shamelessness, not to mention the millions of fans denied entry due to 'dynamic pricing.' FIFA, like the host country of the World Cup, abandoned the illusion of fair play, drawing condemnation even from its infamous former president Sepp Blatter. Galeano was right: the shadow of imperialism looms over the tournament.
The competition perfectly illustrates the global system that brings destruction, depletes resources, and strips the Global South of sovereignty to stimulate development in the Northern Hemisphere. In exchange for turning the World Cup into a Trump-style show, FIFA expects record revenues of $13 billion. Nevertheless, moments of light also revealed something else. Simple portraits of national identity, dependent on religion or skin color, fell onto the pitch. More than half of the American team's players hold dual citizenship; six were born outside the US, and others come from immigrant families.
Football, 'a mirror of everything,' reflected the growing gap between those who love the beautiful game and those who control it. British historian Eric Obstbaum argued that national football teams represent countries in the public consciousness: 'The imaginary community of millions seems more real than a team of eleven named individuals.' This is why the presence of multicultural teams struck a blow against Trump's ethnonationalism and his ideological allies. After announcing an illegal and unjustified war against Iran in February, the US president hoped the Iranian team would not appear at all. Instead, the team was warmly welcomed, allowing it to set up a base camp in Mexico, which itself was repeatedly threatened by US invasion. Locals in Tijuana organized screenings of the Iranian matches, and the team thanked them on social media after a controversial group stage exit.
Away from the headlines, the solidarity of football fans confirmed what the world has long known. While FIFA's corporate leadership may be content with turning the game into one long television advertisement, sport itself can remain a rare antidote to alienation and contempt. In the age of the individual, football remains what Galeano called the 'primary symbol of collective identity.' It is a symbol far more powerful than Infantino's corruption; a symbol that still unites the residents of Gaza for 90 minutes in protest against attempts to erase them. Football, 'a mirror of everything,' once again reflected the world's contradictions, highlighting the growing gap between those who love the beautiful game and those who run it.
The FIFA World Cup, traditionally positioned as the greatest celebration of football uniting billions of people, has faced serious issues in America. Instead of being marked by sporting achievements, the 2026 tournament is increasingly defined by political interference, immigration barriers, and a trend toward the American style of football, where television revenue takes precedence over fan enjoyment.
This situation was clearly demonstrated in the incident involving US national team forward Folarin Balogun. After receiving a red card from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun should have received an automatic disqualification. However, following an appeal and a public call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the decision, the disqualification was overturned.
Despite FIFA later insisting on the independence of its judicial bodies and denying political influence, this turn of events undermined trust in the organization. When fans believe that rules are changed for the benefit of a powerful host country, the integrity of the competition is jeopardized.
The problem goes beyond a single case. The tournament, which for decades promoted football as a universal language, has shown that this language stops at US borders. Fans from participating countries faced visa delays, travel restrictions, or outright refusal of entry.
For example, referee Omar Abdulkarim Artan from Somalia was prevented by US authorities from attending the tournament due to alleged security concerns. Furthermore, journalists from Ghana were denied visas, and fans from Iraq, who had waited decades to see their country return to the World Cup, were forced to watch it from home due to the ban on entry into the US.
In addition to geopolitical problems, there is a change in match format. Hydration breaks, initially introduced as a reasonable safety measure in high temperatures, have turned into a tool for creating commercial content for broadcasters. Three-minute stoppages in climate-controlled stadiums allow broadcasts to show advertising breaks while players prepare to continue the game.
This resembles 'tactical timeouts' common in basketball or American football. Football was never meant to perfectly fit into advertising slots, but this tournament increasingly resembles an American television product, where the natural rhythm of the game gives way to maximizing commercial opportunities.
FIFA claims that football belongs to everyone, yet its actions increasingly suggest that it primarily belongs to sponsors, broadcasters, and those with political influence. Although the governing body has spoken about the development of the game for years, this growth (in revenue) should not come at the expense of the sport's soul. The tournament, which promised to unite the world, instead reminded millions that politics can decide who passes through the gates, commercial television dictates when the game stops, and influence can reach places where sporting rules should apply.
