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2026 FIFA World Cup
18JUL

Infantino says Trump will jointly present the trophy

1 min read
13:09UTC

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told broadcasters that Donald Trump will hand over the World Cup alongside him at MetLife Stadium after full time.

SportDeveloping
Key takeaway

Trump will hand over the trophy with Infantino, on the FIFA president's word alone.

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, told broadcasters that Donald Trump will jointly present the World Cup trophy with him at MetLife Stadium after the final 1. The arrangement rests on Infantino's own on-record remarks; no first-party FIFA release or White House statement setting it out has been published.

The presentation follows a closing ceremony that begins ninety minutes before kickoff , with individual awards handed out pitchside once the match has finished and the trophy last 2. Protocol at recent finals has placed the FIFA president and the host nation's head of state together on the podium, though the trophy itself has customarily passed through the FIFA president's hands alone.

Two details make the staging worth noting. The United States is one of three host nations for this tournament, alongside Canada and Mexico, neither of whose leaders has been named in the arrangement. And Trump's presence is the likeliest reason the fixture carries the federal security designation it does, which puts the ceremonial and the operational sides of the evening on the same cause.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

After the final whistle, individual awards such as the Golden Boot are usually handed out on the pitch before the trophy itself is presented. Infantino has said Trump will join him for that trophy presentation, meaning the US president will have a direct, on-pitch role in the tournament's closing moment rather than simply attending as a guest.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

FIFA's protocol for closing ceremonies gives the host head of state a formal role when the president attends in person; Trump's confirmed attendance at MetLife Stadium is what makes a joint presentation possible, rather than any change to FIFA's usual trophy-handover format.

First Reported In

Update #43 · England 6-4 France: ten goals, two records

Fox 5 New York· 19 Jul 2026
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Different Perspectives
FairSquare
FairSquare
FairSquare has referred Gianni Infantino to the International Olympic Committee's Ethics Commission over FIFA's political-neutrality rules, using the IOC's authority as a lever FIFA's own president-appointed Ethics Committee cannot provide against itself. Trump's on-podium presence at the final, with Infantino visibly moving him aside, becomes an exhibit for that complaint rather than an argument for it.
Fiscalía General de Justicia de la Ciudad de México
Fiscalía General de Justicia de la Ciudad de México
Mexico City's prosecutor has opened four homicide investigations into the crush that killed Emilín Yumith Téllez, Joshami Iraís Robles, Leonardo Ruiz and an unidentified fourth victim at the Ángel de la Independencia, three of them classified as negligent homicide. Three weeks after the final whistle, no determination has been reached.
FIFA / Gianni Infantino
FIFA / Gianni Infantino
Infantino called the 48-team format "100 percent" right and confirmed FIFA's committees will examine expanding to 64 teams for 2030, on the strength of a goal count FIFA has never published as one audited total for all 104 matches. FIFA has issued no statement on the Malvinas banner review or the Bellingham file since deferring both past the final.
Claudio Tapia / AFA
Claudio Tapia / AFA
AFA president Claudio Tapia told the squad to stand tall after the final, and Argentina's own press did not contest the result, framing the defeat around the possible end of the Messi era rather than any complaint about the match itself. Messi ruled out only the 2030 tournament, leaving his Copa America future unaddressed.
Luis de la Fuente / Spain
Luis de la Fuente / Spain
Luis de la Fuente nominated Rodri for the Ballon d'Or after the final, framing a title built on one goal conceded as proof a team can win through control rather than scoring. His squad carried eight Barcelona players and none from Real Madrid, the first time that has happened in the federation's history.
Football data analysts
Football data analysts
A 6-4 between exhausted, eliminated sides making four half-time changes each reads as collapsed defensive intensity, not proof of a better format. The number that actually tests the 48-team expansion is the per-match rate, roughly 2.9 against 2022's 2.69, not the raw 300-goal aggregate padded by forty extra fixtures.