The 2026 Men’s football World Cup is underway with most matches in the USA and some in Canada and Mexico
Recent World Cups held in countries with authoritarian regimes such as Qatar and Russia have engaged in sports washing. Using the occasion to promote a more positive perspective of their country.
Not it seems for King Donald Trump who eschews sports washing. Even before the tournament started a leading referee was held for eleven hours and then deported to Somalia. Teams from countries which Trump doesnt like have been subject to intensive searches and restrictions on support staff.
What will happen if the far right gang ICE is deployed at stadiums remains to be seen
Fortunately there is a new book by Jules Boycoff, introduced by Dave Zirin, that looks at the business of the World Cup, |FIFA and how it stacks up politically.
Kmflett's Blog 
Great analysis. The scheduling across 16 host cities and 3 countries is wild – been using zflix.site to track all 104 fixtures with countdown timers.