Donald Trump is not expected to attend the United States’ opening game of the World Cup.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now underway across the US, Mexico, and Canada, with the expanded tournament featuring 48 teams and 104 matches. Rather than a single opening fixture for the whole event, each co-host is staging its own ceremony and first match on home soil.
Typically, a senior figure from the host nation is present for that opening fixture. In 2022, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attended Qatar’s first game against Ecuador, while Vladimir Putin was in the stands when Russia faced Saudi Arabia in 2018.
This time, though, that custom appears set to be broken in the US, as president Donald Trump has no plans to be at the American side’s first match.
The US men’s national team is due to play Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday, 12 June, with kickoff scheduled for 9 p.m. local time, but Trump will not be in attendance.
Instead, he is expected to attend another sporting event.
That event is set to take place at the White House on Saturday evening and is a UFC show called ‘UFC Freedom 250’. The event is being promoted as part of the administration’s wider “Freedom 250” celebrations around the 250th anniversary of the United States, and it is also tied to Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday, 14 June.
Photographs from the White House have already shown construction work taking place for the arena, with the temporary venue built on the South Lawn. The UFC has also billed the card as a landmark event, and reports in the US have described it as the first professional sporting event to be staged at the presidential residence.
In place of Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to lead the US delegation at the team’s opening World Cup match in Los Angeles.
Trump’s absence is notable because his administration has also created a White House task force for the 2026 World Cup, with the tournament unfolding alongside the country’s semiquincentennial celebrations.
Trump’s appearances at major sporting events have not always been warmly received.
During Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday, 8 June, Trump drew a mixed reaction, but loud boos were clearly audible when he appeared on the jumbotron during the national anthem.
Trump is not the only leader from a host nation missing an opening game, although the reason in Mexico is quite different.
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum also did not attend her country’s first match against South Africa, a game the hosts won 2-0 in Mexico City on Thursday, 11 June.
She had previously said she would give her ticket to a supporter, and has since followed through on that promise, handing it over to amateur footballer Yolett Cervantes Cuaquehua.
Giving it to a fan, Sheinbaum told reporters at a news conference:
“They are the pride of Mexico. They will not represent the president, or the head of government, they will represent Mexico.”