THERE WAS A lot of doom and gloom ahead of the World Cup. Although hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States, the pessimism internationally focused on the latter. Given the multiple outrages we have witnessed during President Donald Trump’s second term in the Oval Office, this is understandable.

Revulsion at Trump 2.0, which has precipitated a decline in the number of foreign visitors to the US, together with extortionate pricing for match tickets and hotel accommodation, led observers to forecast that this event would be a very serious let down and to question why it was being held primarily in a jurisdiction that remains relatively immune to the appeal of “the beautiful game.”

For instance, this writer will never be able to describe it as football because football is a very different game to me both as an American reared on a steady diet of our version of the sport at professional, collegiate and high school levels – and subsequently, as an Irishman obsessed with the GAA and passionate about Galway football (still recovering from last weekend’s defeat to the Dubs).

So it was with real trepidation that keen and casual onlookers anticipated the World Cup. The collective mood was further depressed by reports of some travelling fans experiencing difficulty entering the US and the appalling treatment of a Somalian referee who was turned away by immigration officials, despite his having a diplomatic passport and a valid single-entry visa. One of my concerns was that it would heighten already widespread anti-American sentiment globally.

Los Angeles, California, USA. 21 June, 2026. A view of opening ceremony for the FIFA World Cup Group G........

© TheJournal