Spain and Argentina will contest the 2026 World Cup final, and a win for the European nation in New York could signal an embarrassing moment for Donald Trump.
The US president has already been at the center of a storm this summer, after it emerged he stepped in to save striker Folarin Balogun from the repercussions of a controversial red card.
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Balogun’s one-match ban was suspended by FIFA’s disciplinary committee, enabling him to play in the last-16 loss against Belgium.
The decision followed a phone call between Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, as reported by eSPORTY.
Intense backlash has followed the affair, which has put political interference at the heart of the world’s biggest sporting stage.
And if Spain lift the World Cup at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Trump could find himself in the spotlight once again, having offered a brutal assessment of the European nation just days ago.
Donald Trump could hand Spain trophy after ‘wasted cause’ comments
Infantino confirmed last month that Trump will present the trophy to the winners of the World Cup final on July 19.
The decision is a break from recent FIFA protocol, and follows the controversy surrounding his involvement in the presentation of the FIFA Club World Cup to Chelsea last summer.
In an awkward turn of events, he could hand over the trophy to Spain’s soccer team after describing the country as a ‘wasted cause’ at a recent NATO summit.
Trump said he wanted to cut off all trade relations with his European ally, and claimed they were a ‘terrible partner in NATO’ during the meeting in Ankara, Turkey on July 8.
“Spain is a wasted cause. We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I’d like to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO,” he said.
“They don’t participate. They don’t pay. I don’t want anything to do with Spain.
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“Cut off all trade with Spain, please. Including visits. We don’t want anything to do (with them).
“Watch them come running back… but we don’t have to trade with them.
“They’re hopeless, bad people because they have everybody else going and paying and working.”
Following Trump’s tirade, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez later insisted that relations with the US were ‘very positive’ and that he had had an informal chat with the president about soccer.
“We talked about the World Cup… there was no tension whatsoever, on the contrary it was all very friendly,” Sanchez said.
Still, all eyes will on Trump Sunday, should he be handing over the trophy to Spain after the game.
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And if tensions flare up again, the US president could have the last laugh beyond the 2026 tournament.
Fears over Donald Trump’s ‘influence’ on next World Cup
Trump’s already controversial relationship with Infantino is threatening to spill over into 2030.
The next World Cup is shaping up to be a logistical nightmare, and will be hosted across three continents and six different countries.
Early games will be played in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay to mark 100 years of the tournament, before it heads to Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
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The latter two nations are both hoping to host the final, and until recently, Real Madrid’s recently renovated Santiago Bernabeu was the clear favorite.
Morocco, though, could have a strong ally in Trump.
Spanish reports claim that King Mohammed VI has launched a lobbying campaign for the World Cup final, with Morocco’s ambassador to the United States Youssef Amrani and Football Federation president, Fouzi Lekjaa, among those leading it.
Trump has recently endorsed Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara — a contentious political dispute — and could side with the nation over any potential battle for the World Cup final.
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Given he’s also recently lambasted Spain, sports radio program El Partidazo de COPE believes that football bosses are increasingly wary of Trump’s influence ahead of the 2030 World Cup.
Juanma Castano, director of El Partidazo de COPE, has already claimed that the US president was allegedly exerting pressure in favor of Morocco hosting the final because of the kingdom’s close ties with his administration.
So far, there have been no official comments from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on the suggestion. Neither FIFA nor the White House has publicly commented, and there is currently no evidence to substantiate it.
But the political backdrop remains volatile, and Sunday’s World Cup final could be an indicator of where Trump’s relationship with Spain stands.
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