Infantino Defends Trump’s World Cup Trophy Role as Scrutiny Mounts

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says Donald Trump will help hand the World Cup trophy to the winning captain on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, defending the arrangement as a decades-old tradition. The last two World Cup finals say otherwise.

Infantino’s defense arrives days after a human rights group referred him to Olympic ethics investigators over his closeness with Trump, fallout from a red card reversal that helped eliminate the United States from its own World Cup.

Trump Will Co-Present the Trophy at MetLife Stadium

Infantino confirmed the plan in an interview with Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, describing near-daily contact with the president throughout the tournament. “We’re in touch regularly,” he said. Almost every day, he added, Trump checks in happy and engaged, watching every match from home on television.

Trump has yet to set foot inside a World Cup stadium this summer. Infantino waved off suggestions that security was the reason. “No, no,” he said. “I suppose he still has a few other things to do.”

The final is expected to change that. “That’s always been the plan,” Infantino said, describing Trump’s role as consistent with how FIFA handles the ceremony when a sitting head of state hosts the tournament, for the president of the host country to present the trophy together with the FIFA president.

It would not be the first time Trump has shared that stage. During last year’s Club World Cup final at the same stadium, he helped hand the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James, then lingered as the team celebrated.

I knew he was going to be here, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy, so I was a bit confused.

Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer said that afterward, describing the scene players found themselves in once the celebration began.

Infantino’s ‘Tradition’ Argument Skips Four Decades

The idea that host nations’ leaders routinely share the trophy stage overstates how rare the gesture actually is. At the last two World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, Infantino presented the trophy without a head of state alongside him. In Qatar, the country’s Emir stood next to Infantino as he handed the trophy to Lionel Messi, but did not hand it over himself.

Heads of state presenting the trophy directly has happened twice in the tournament’s history. Queen Elizabeth II handed it to England’s captain in 1966, and King Juan Carlos of Spain gave it to Italy’s captain in 1982, the most recent instance before this year, according to ESPN reporting.

Political intervention in a player suspension is not without precedent either. In 1962, Brazilian star Garrincha was ejected from the semifinal, only for heads of state from three countries to clear him to play the final. It is the closest historical parallel to what just happened with Folarin Balogun.

The Red Card That Reopened Everything

United States forward Folarin Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute of the Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, red-carded for a challenge on defender Tarik Muharemovic. The U.S. won 2-0 anyway, but the dismissal carried an automatic one-match ban into the Round of 16 against Belgium.

Trump called Infantino to ask for a review. He said he merely asked for that review. “I didn’t say, ‘you have to do this,’” he told reporters, adding that he hadn’t known “what the hell a red card was” before the incident.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the ban days later using Article 27 of its code, which allows a punishment to be placed on probation instead of served immediately.

1. June 23: Infantino tells Fox and Friends he and Trump will jointly present the World Cup trophy.
2. July 1: Balogun is sent off in the Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. July 5: FIFA suspends the automatic ban under Article 27, clearing Balogun to play.
4. July 6: Belgium eliminates the United States 4-1 in the Round of 16. UEFA calls the reversal a crossed “red line.”
5. July 9: Human rights group FairSquare refers Infantino to Olympic ethics investigators.

Belgium’s own social channels rubbed it in. After Romelu Lukaku’s fourth goal, the team’s account posted his celebration with a two-word caption: “Overturn this.”

UEFA did not hold back either, calling the decision “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” American fans, initially united behind the run, turned much of their frustration on the president once the U.S. was out.

Four Bodies Now Question Infantino’s Neutrality

The Balogun affair reignited a complaint that had been sitting untouched for months. Four separate parties have now raised the neutrality question formally.

• FairSquare, a human rights group focused on labor migration and sports governance, filed the original ethics complaint with FIFA in December and has since referred Infantino directly to Olympic ethics investigators.
• The Norway Football Federation is formally backing that FIFA complaint.
• Fifty members of the European Parliament sent FIFA a letter demanding its ethics committee act with more urgency.
• The International Olympic Committee has held jurisdiction over Infantino since he joined its roster of invited members in 2020, giving the new referral real weight.

FIFA had provided no update in seven months on the original complaint before the Balogun reversal forced the issue back into view.

European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef weighed in too. “Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians,” he wrote on social platform X.

Why Hasn’t Trump Watched a Match in Person?

Trump has not attended a single World Cup match despite weeks of tournament play, watching instead from the White House. Infantino says scheduling, not security, explains the absence, while several cabinet officials have gone in his place. The pattern could end at the July 19 final.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the USMNT’s opening win over Paraguay. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and FBI Director Kash Patel have all turned up at matches alongside Infantino.

The relationship has its own paper trail. Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed Infantino gave him $15,000 worth of tickets to last year’s Club World Cup final, part of nearly $120,000 in sports tickets Trump reported receiving that year from allies, team owners and sports executives.

The White House has leaned into the moment online, posting “USA! USA! USA!” and “SOCCER!!!” as the tournament progressed, while the Department of Homeland Security has run its own soccer-themed messaging.

Six Days to Kickoff

Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is set for 3 p.m. Eastern, with gates and parking lots opening hours earlier.

The stadium holds roughly 82,500 fans for a matchup FIFA has not yet set. Argentina and England have already booked semifinal places this week, while France and Spain play for the other final spot on July 14 in Dallas.

Global audiences will dwarf the ceremony’s domestic politics. The 2022 final between Argentina and France drew an estimated 1.5 billion viewers, and projections for this year run higher given a kickoff window that favors Europe, Africa and the Americas alike.

No word yet from FIFA on whether Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney or Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will share the podium, even though both nations are co-hosting the tournament alongside the United States.

Kickoff is six days out. Whichever team lifts the trophy will do so with Trump’s hand on it too, and with the ethics complaints against the man standing beside him still unresolved.