President Trump believes 2026 World Cup could be an "Incentive" for Russia to end the Ukraine conflict
Donald Trump suggested that Russia's potential return to the 2026 FIFA World Cup could serve as an incentive for the country to end its war with Ukraine. As both FIFA and UEFA continue to ban Russian teams from international competition.
Donald Trump, President of the United States, believes competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup may be an inducement for Russia to finish the war against Ukraine. He offered examples from conversations he had with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who too was uncertain that Russia was still banned from international competition.
The Russian national team has been banned from all FIFA and UEFA tournaments since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With qualifiers already underway for the 2026 tournament hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, Trump's comments raise a possible diplomatic angle to arriving at the end of the war. FIFA and UEFA executives maintain that Russia is still banned from participating in tournaments but have said the country could be eligible for reinstatement once the war is concluded.
Trump suggests 2026 World Cup could push Russia to end Ukraine war
After former U.S. President Donald Trump proposed that letting Russia compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup could be a potential “incentive” for the country to stop its war with Ukraine.
FIFA and UEFA barred Russia's national football teams from all international tournaments since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The World Cup qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, being hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, commenced in 2023 and will have a total of 45 qualifying spots, in addition to the three host nations.
While attending Trump's first meeting of his World Cup taskforce, he met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and responded to Russia's exclusion with surprise. When Trump was told about the exclusion, he said that settling the conflict might lead to Russia returning to the world stage.
“I didn’t know that, is that right?” asked Trump. Infantino said, “They are banned for the time being from playing, but we hope something happens, and peace will happen so we can readmit Russia.”
Trump responded, “That's possible. Hey, could be a good incentive, right? We want to get them to stop. 5,000 people a week are being killed---it’s not even believable. We’re going to get that war stopped.”
UEFA has banned Russia from playing in the World Cup since 2021
The European qualification process for the tournament started with the Nations League in March, and it is anticipated that 16 UEFA nations will qualify for the tournament.
Russia hasn’t played a competitive international fixture since losing to Croatia in a World Cup qualifying match in November 2021. The national team has played 16 friendlies since then and won 11 of those matches.
Infantino previously indicated in an April UEFA congress that his hope is to see Russia back in the realm of global football, suggesting that once there is peace, there will be an end to the war. “When the war stops, [Russia] will be readmitted,” UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin stated.
