The World Cup: More than a Game
The World Cup as staging ground for autocrats and pro-democracy movements
I’m very pleased to publish this guest essay by Dr. Maria J. Stephan, who is the Co-lead and Chief Organizer at the Horizons Project and an expert on mobilizing collective action and nonviolent movements for human rights and peace in America and the world. She is co-author of the award-winning study Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, and founded the Program on Nonviolent Action at the U.S. Institute of Peace. This piece is adapted from a longer essay published last week by Waging Nonviolence.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup, now being played in the United States, is far more than a sporting event. With matches spread across 11 U.S. cities and an estimated 6.5 million visitors expected to travel for the tournament, the World Cup will become one of the largest global spectacles ever hosted on American soil, unfolding amid escalating authoritarianism, unrest and polarization.
History shows that mega-events like the World Cup are never politically neutral. Governments use them to project legitimacy, consolidate power and reinforce national identity. Yet the intense attention surrounding the tournament can also create political vulnerability, offering activists, communities, and even athletes rare opportunities to reveal repression on national and international stages.
Qatar’s 2022 World Cup became a defining modern example of sportswashing and the tension between image management and the political scrutiny that results from mega-events. The Qatari government spent hundreds of billions positioning the tournament as a showcase of national prestige, even as the event drew global criticism over migrant worker deaths, restrictions on LGBTQ+ expression and limits on political freedom.
Iranian players appeared to refuse to sing the national anthem amid nationwide protests back home, while diaspora activists used fan zones and public gatherings to spotlight regime repression and amplify the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement internationally. Meanwhile, attempts by European teams to wear “OneLove” armbands, despite threats of sanctions, generated even greater global attention around LGBTQ+ rights.
Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo used the 1978 World Cup’s international spotlight to expose disappearances and state terror under the military junta, protesting near foreign reporters while human rights groups circulated documentation of torture and political prisoners to the global press. Following Poland’s 1981 declaration of martial law, the 1982 World Cup similarly became an outlet for anti-regime slogans and symbols, as activists reframed national pride as a demand for democratic freedom.
At its core, the World Cup transcends athletic competition. Each tournament becomes a powerful expression of collective identity, transforming stadiums and fan spaces into culturally charged public arenas where small acts of dissent—from symbolic clothing to silent protests—can take on outsized political meaning. In authoritarian environments, fan networks increasingly evolve into broader civic and political movements.
The World Cup also internationalizes dissent, allowing domestic activists to connect with global unions, NGOs, diaspora communities and fan networks that transform local struggles into large-scale campaigns. Across nations, activists have consistently leveraged the World Cup to confront state violence and labor abuses. By using this visibility to challenge repression, these groups turn state-led image management into global referendums on human rights and political legitimacy.
Ahead of the 2026 tournament, the Trump administration already understands the political power of the World Cup. The White House FIFA 2026 Task Force, chaired by Trump and Vice President Vance, is organizing “Freedom 250” festivities alongside the competition, framing the World Cup as a showcase for America’s 250th anniversary and a larger “America First” agenda.
Trump portrayed some cities governed by political opponents as “unsafe,” suggesting matches should be moved elsewhere. FIFA—which has maintained a cozy relationship with autocrats during previous tournaments—and its president, Gianni Infantino, also awarded a newly-created FIFA Peace Prize to Trump.
Authoritarian governments routinely soften repression during mega-events to protect their international image, but that heightened scrutiny creates openings activists and civic leaders can exploit. These moments play out through demonstrations near stadiums and in fan spaces, where acts of protest become harder to contain when the world is watching.
In the process, movements can contest who gets to define the nation itself. From Argentina to Poland to Iran, activists have used the emotional power of sport to reclaim national symbols from authoritarian regimes, arguing that patriotism belongs not to those in power, but to the people demanding freedom and human rights.
The United States is already entering this contest over national identity as the tournament approaches. Broad coalitions across faith, labor, immigrant-rights, legal and business communities are mobilizing to shape what the World Cup represents in practice, not just in symbolism.
The “No ICE in the Cup” campaign has emerged as a big-tent effort centered on inclusion, safety and community celebration, while the Dignity 2026 Coalition has issued travel advisories warning of racial profiling, detention and aggressive immigration enforcement tied to the games.
Other community groups have joined forces on the “Our Copa” campaign, which includes a pledge to stop ICE raids during the World Cup, lift travel bans on Haiti, Iran, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, and let fans celebrate safely. In Los Angeles, workers have raised the possibility of strikes over the potential presence of ICE, while UNITE HERE Local 11 has called on FIFA to exclude federal agents from tournament security operations.
As activists and host cities pressure FIFA to uphold its own human rights commitments, the 2026 World Cup is rapidly becoming a political battleground where competing visions of nationalism collide in full view of the world.
Now is the time to join No ICE in the Cup as this growing cross-sector coalition works to ensure the global celebration of the game reflects the multicultural reality of the United States—rather than fear, exclusion or division.
Learn more, and view downloadable artwork, at noiceinthecup.us/.
 | A guest post by
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Donnie The Builder
Throughout his mafia led life, malignant narcissist Cheeto has arrogantly created this self image in his own mind of himself as a “builder of skyscrapers”. As he spoke from the resolute desk, Cheeto actually believes that his presidential purpose is to beautify the now Black House and the city of Washington with his architectural wonders instead of serving WE the People who elected him.
Since the Nazi Republican way has always been to ravage the government’s Treasury, the necessary approach to governing is to take taxpayer $$ and not use it for WE the People but to take the $$ to use they see fit since WE don’t know what’s good for US. Get rid of that nutty “social safety net” which is just abused by welfare queens and use it, as Cheeto demands, to beautify what was a slum hole city.
So in his psychopathic demented mind Donnie the Builder was put into office to beautify the world with architecture that glorifies him and is a living monument to him. The monstrosity that he has planned is the triumphant arch modeled after the Parisian equivalent but of course bigger. And with Cheeto as always there is a subheading hoping WE the People will not see. When one looks through the arch toward Arlington, it perfectly frames the once home of Robert E Lee.
I am actually supporting the Boycott US World Cup 2026. In fact, Indivisible Abroad's Economic Resistance Working Group is amplifying this boycott on our social media. You can see my daily posting to boycott the World Cup at Mastodon. https://norden.social/@indivisiblebremen
I am glad that my US city Chicago decided not to hold the games. Cities are losing money that they cannot afford to with Trump stealing our money that was supposed to fund food, healthcare, shelter and education.
It is unsafe for players who are not considered "White" to enter the US and play as well as their fans. Trump is an international war criminal and FIFA is a scandalous organization. I am not even watching the games on the screen. No Fußball for this Fußball fan. I am ignoring friends posting about it. These games are as tainted as Trump's fights on the White House Lawn. I would like to see FIFA end. I don't think it will, but that won't stop me from speaking out.