Common Questions

What did Amnesty's 'Humanity Must Win' report find about the 2026 World Cup?

The report rated tournament risk as medium to high, found only 4 of 16 host cities had human rights plans, and documented ICE collaboration agreements in Dallas, Houston and Miami.Source: Amnesty International

Which World Cup host cities signed ICE agreements?

Dallas, Houston and Miami signed ICE collaboration agreements covering World Cup operations. Vancouver and Toronto explicitly prohibited ICE from operating at their venues.Source: Amnesty International / USNI

What is the 11 May deadline for World Cup host cities?

Human Rights Watch demanded all 16 host cities publish human rights action plans by 11 May 2026, following its audit recording 167,000 ICE arrests in host-city regions.Source: Human Rights Watch

Background

Amnesty International published 'Humanity Must Win' on 31 March 2026, upgrading its risk assessment for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to 'medium to high'. The report audited all 16 host cities and found only 4 of 16 had published human rights plans. Dallas, Houston and Miami had signed ICE collaboration agreements covering tournament operations; Toronto closed a warming shelter to free capacity for FIFA use.

The title signals Amnesty's core argument: that the tournament's promotional slogan 'Together We Are Greater' rings hollow against a documented two-tier enforcement environment in which Canadian host cities banned ICE operations while US cities actively facilitated them. The report was released one week after the ICE acting director told Congress that immigration enforcement near venues had not been ruled out.

Human Rights Watch's follow-up audit on 10 April recorded at least 167,000 ICE arrests across host-city regions in the three months to 10 March, with Dallas accounting for 22,388, Houston 26,483 and Atlanta 13,985. HRW demanded all 16 cities publish action plans by 11 May. 'Humanity Must Win' is the reference document grounding those demands.