MEXICO CITY: The World Cup kicks off Thursday with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, launching a sprawling tournament of 48 teams that will last nearly six weeks. The extravaganza hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada is the biggest World Cup in history, stretching until the final in New Jersey on July 19. It is projected to generate a record-breaking $13 billion in total revenue. But football&#39;s world governing body FIFA has faced stinging criticism over the eye-watering costs of tickets, while Donald Trump&#39;s immigration crackdown has seen a top referee, Iranian team officials, and fans refused entry to the United States. Speaking in Mexico City on Wednesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino launched a spirited defense of the organization of the tournament and brushed off criticism over visa issues. Infantino insisted that tickets -- which in some cases have topped $30,000 -- had been priced appropriately, citing a small number of $60 tickets that were made available in response to criticism. &quot;Let me just say that our entry price, which is 60 dollars, is the lowest entry price of any of the American sports in the play-off phases,&quot; Infantino said. &quot;Our average price, which is below us$ 500, is again the lowest of the American sports on average.&quot; &nbsp;We don&#39;t control everything Infantino also played down the controversy surrounding Somali World Cup referee Omar Artan, who was refused entry after arriving in Miami. FIFA has since confirmed Artan, who the US State Department said had &quot;associated with suspected members of terrorist organizations,&quot; will play no part in the tournament. &quot;It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia,&quot; Infantino said. &quot;We don&#39;t control everything... Sometimes it&#39;s good to chill, relax, we work on everything, we try to solve everything.&quot; The FIFA leader also portrayed Iran&#39;s participation at the World Cup in the midst of its military conflict with the US as a victory for his organization. &quot;People were saying Iran couldn&#39;t come to the World Cup,&quot; Infantino said. &quot;There are challenges, it&#39;s not easy, but I don&#39;t know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances -- which we could not influence -- Iran could come and play.&quot; Infantino&#39;s close relationship with Trump has come under scrutiny, but the FIFA chief lavished praise on the US president. &quot;Without his engagement and involvement, I think it would have been, simple as that, impossible to organize a World Cup in the United States,&quot; Infantino said of Trump. Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he plans to attend some World Cup matches, without providing details. &quot;I spoke to Gianni this morning... he said there&#39;s never been anything close&quot; to the success of the coming tournament, Trump said. Wall of noise South Africa coach Hugo Broos warned his players to block out a wall of sound during the opening match in the Estadio Azteca, a legendary venue that hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals. &quot;They will have 85,000 Mexicans shouting and singing. But we have to focus on our game. And if we can do that... then we can have a good game,&quot; the Belgian said. Mexico has not won any of its seven appearances in an opening game. &quot;We have to break the statistic,&quot; coach Javier Aguirre said. &quot;It will be another source of motivation.&quot; South Korea and the Czech Republic play the second game on the opening day in Guadalajara. Spain, France, and England are the favourites, while reigning champions Argentina will look to their 38-year-old talisman Lionel Messi to drive them to the final. England wrapped up their preparations on Wednesday with an impressive 3-0 win over a feisty Costa Rica in a match delayed by an hour because of thunderstorms in Orlando. Coach Thomas Tuchel liked his side&#39;s intensity as Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon, and Ollie Watkins got on the scoresheet. &quot;Until now, it was more a feeling of a pre-season, like an overseas pre-season,&quot; the England boss said. &quot;I think we set the tone today.&quot;

Football

The FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off in Mexico with hosts Mexico facing South Africa at the iconic Azteca Stadium, launching the biggest-ever 48-team tournament amid excitement, record revenues, ticket-price criticism and political controversy.

World Cup set for kickoff after high ticket prices, visa issues dog buildup

TEHRAN: Iran is to boycott next week&#39;s World Cup finals draw in Washington because the United States refused to grant visas to several members of the delegation, the Iranian football federation announced on Friday. &quot;We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken have nothing to do with sports and the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,&quot; the federation&#39;s spokesperson told state television. Iranian sports website Varzesh 3 had claimed on Tuesday that the United States had declined to issue visas to several members of the delegation including the president of the federation, Mehdi Taj. On Thursday, Taj had denounced the decision as being a political one. &quot;We have told the head of FIFA, Mr. Gianni Infantino, that it is purely a political position and that FIFA must tell them (US) to desist from this behaviour,&quot; added Taj. According to Varzesh 3, four members of the delegation, including Amir Ghalenoei, the coach, had been granted visas for the draw on December 5. Iran qualified for the sport&#39;s quadrennial showpiece in March, guaranteeing them a fourth successive appearance and seventh in all. They have yet to progress to the knockout stages, but there was unconfined joy when in the 1998 finals in France, Iran beat the USA 2-1 in their group match. The USA avenged that by beating Iran 1-0 in the 2022 edition. The United States -- which is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico -- and Iran have been at loggerheads for over four decades. They had, though, been holding high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran&#39;s right to enrich uranium -- which Tehran defends as &quot;inalienable&quot;. However, they ended when, in mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

France's forward #10 Kylian Mbappe (R) shoots a penalty kick during the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Paris, on November 13, 2025. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Iran will boycott next week’s World Cup draw in Washington after the US denied visas to several delegation members, calling the move political. Only four officials received visas. Iran, a 2026 qualifier, informed FIFA of its withdrawal.

Articles tagged with "FIFA 2026"

World Cup set for kickoff after high ticket prices, visa issues dog buildup

Iran to boycott 2026 World Cup draw over US visa row

World Cup set for kickoff after high ticket prices, visa issues dog buildup