US President Donald Trump has vowed to move the 2026 World Cup from cities he deem unsafe.
78 out of the 104 fixtures will take place in the selected eleven US cities, while the rest of the matches of next summer's 48-team tournament are scheduled fro Canada and Mexico. The final will be held in the US.
World governing body FIFA is in charge of organising the tournament and selecting host cities, and any changes now, or at a later stage, would face logistical challenges.
It is also unclear whether Trump has the authority to make such changes, though he does have a close working relationship with its president Gianni Infantino and is chair of the World Cup taskforce.
"It will be safe for the World Cup," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "If I think it isn't safe, we'll move it into a different city."
The 11 host cities in the US include Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Trump was asked specifically about matches in the Democratic-run cities of Seattle and San Francisco. Both are due to host six games.
He also mentioned LA, another Democratic stronghold, which will host the 2028 Olympics and eight matches next year.
"If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympics, but for the World Cup in particular, because they're playing in so many cities, we won't allow it to go. We'll move it around a little bit," he said.
Trump has made tackling crime a central part of his agenda. Last month, he deployed National Guard troops and federal officers into Washington DC, despite figures showing a fall in crime since it spiked in 2023.
In June, he ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to LA to deal with unrest over ICE raids on undocumented migrants.
The draw for the group stage of the World Cup is scheduled for December 5 in Washington DC and the tournament is set to run from June 11 to July 19.
This is not the first time Trump has spoken about the World Cup.
In May, he said the opportunity for Russia to play at the tournament could be an "incentive" to end the war in Ukraine.
That is despite the Russian national football team being banned from international competition by FIFA and UEFA since the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and qualification for the World Cup having already started.
Notably, the concern about safety came days after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a speaking event at Utah Valley University.
