Document Type
Note
Abstract
“We are bullish about the power of football (soccer). It will become the number one sport in North America” —FIFA President Gianni Infantino
Canada, Mexico, and the United States will host the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. While the tournament is expected to generate more than $40 billion in economic activity across the continent, FIFA’s decision to award hosting rights to North America coincides with Gianni Infantino’s stated goal of dethroning American football as the most popular sport in North America. While billions of dollars and a healthy dose of soft power await North America on the other side of the tournament, these named beneficiaries first need the event itself to go well, something which, to this point, has been glossed over and treated like a minor detail. Although a sizeable portion of FIFA’s revenue comes from the sale of broadcast and media rights, it may be a shock to learn that host cities like Seattle and Guadalajara in fact need fans to come to town for the matches these cities will host in order to reap the benefits of what is supposed to be an economic windfall. However, for that to happen, fans from all over the world first need to get approval to travel inside the borders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This is where the problems begin. FIFA, a world football mainstay, the Colombian men’s national team ranked thirteenth in the world in December of 2025. As of December of 2025, the wait time for a B-2 visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá is 398 days. Türkiye, ranked twenty-fifth in the world, finished third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At one point recently, the wait time for a B-2 interview in Ankara was 560 days. No team has won the African Cup of Nations more times than Côte d’Ivoire. As of March 2025, the processing time for a Canadian Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) for an applicant applying from Côte d’Ivoire was 433 days. Ranked nineteenth in the world, Senegal figures to make a deep run in the 2026 tournament. To be approved for a Mexican visa, all one must do is provide the requisite documents during an in-person appointment. For a Senegalese supporter living in Dakar, the nearest Mexican Embassy is located a cool 1,850 miles away (35 hours by car, both ways) in Rabat, Morocco. Need this list continue? FIFA expects to generate $11 billion from the 2026 World Cup cycle. The sixteen cities hosting matches across the continent in 2026 have committed themselves to hundreds of millions of dollars in investments toward infrastructure and transportation. North America has given the rest of the world permission to place the continent under a global magnifying glass while a spotlight the size of the Empire State Building is attached to it. There are major players involved, and they are all counting on the tournament to be a massive success. However, there remain far more questions than answers. The research for this Note began in the fall of 2023. At that point, these logistical concerns had received little to no attention. While that was of concern, it felt too early to sound the alarms. Now in late 2025, very little has changed since the beginning of this project. While some commentary has cropped up in recent months, the three host countries have yet to take any concrete or meaningful steps toward addressing the issues outlined in this Note. Now it’s time to sound the alarms.
Recommended Citation
Emory Kincaid,
VAR Check: Visa Requirements for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,
53
Ga. J. Int’l & Compar. L.
586
(2025).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/gjicl/vol53/iss3/5