In March, Bilal Lafta had the best soccer watching experience of his life in Monterrey, Mexico.
Lafta, a 27-year-old Iraqi American software developer based in New York, traveled to Monterrey with his father and brother to watch the Iraqi national team’s qualifying game against Bolivia for the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City. They were met with throngs of Mexican spectators who embraced the Iraqi team, learning Arabic chants and asking questions about life in Iraq. “The Mexican fans said that we had similar cultures,” Lafta told Foreign Policy.
Iraq won the game, landing a World Cup spot for the first time in 40 years, and the neighborhood erupted in celebration. Outside the stadium, a Mexican policewoman allowed Iraqis to climb on top of her car to dance and wave their national flag. Lafta praised both the multiculturalism and safety of the setting, but said he could not imagine such a scene today in the United States, which is co-hosting the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel bans and aggressive immigration raids have cast doubt over whether the United States will be welcoming to international soccer fans. Potential government harassment during the World Cup—whether at customs or on the streets—could negatively affect U.S. soft power, according to foreign-policy and sports history experts.
In contrast, they said, Canada and Mexico may be able to reap soft power benefits from the tournament. Officials in both countries are playing up their embrace of diversity. Mexico in particular—with its strong tradition of soccer and public festivals, plus its relatively low prices for tourists—has the building blocks for a great atmosphere. But there are still plenty of ways that Mexico could fall short of expectations.
Iraqi fans dance outside the stadium prior to a qualifying game for the 2026 FIFA World Cup between Iraq and Bolivia at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico on March 31. Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images
Beginning in 2009, Arturo Sarukhán, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States at the time, suggested that the United States and Mexico co-host the World Cup to show that they could be “partners in success,” he wrote in the Financial Times earlier this year. Then-President Barack Obama endorsed the idea of a tournament that also included Canada by 2013, Sarukhán wrote. It was designed to send a message of North American unity.
But by the time the joint bid was approved in 2018, a year into Trump’s first term, that very idea was on shaky ground; Trump had already triggered a renegotiation of the three countries’ free trade deal. Now, the unity narrative seems even more mismatched with reality. Trump has placed heavy tariffs on both countries, referred to Canada as a future U.S. state, and threatened to bomb Mexico.
The trade deal, now known as USMCA, may yet survive a review that is underway, and Sarukhán argued in his essay that the World Cup can still foster a spirit of trilateral unity. But the prevailing perception is that that 2010s narrative of togetherness was meant only “to win hosting rights, not to say how things actually are,” said Gerardo Velázquez de León, a prominent Mexican soccer commentator.
Amid the current trade and migration clashes between Mexico and the United States, “there isn’t unity,” Velázquez de León said, though he added that it was possible for the tournament to reflect well on its hosts if it unfolds in a festive and peaceful environment.
Predicting how the World Cup will affect host countries’ reputations can be risky. Headlines about mass protests ahead of the 2014 World Cup, hosted by Brazil, were soon supplanted by images of a multicultural fan party on Copacabana Beach once matches began. Memories of that tournament vary based on whom you ask.
Even so, some defining features of this year’s World Cup are already clear. Many fans complain of high ticket prices, which are holding back their plans to attend in all three host countries. Only weeks before the World Cup began, hotel bookings were lower than projected in cities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Some fans chose not to travel this year because of ticket prices, said João Paulo Fernandes, a co-owner of Turista FC, a Brazilian sports tourism agency.
A man stands in front of a mural featuring World Cup motifs in Mexico City on May 25. The work was hand-painted by artists Josa Cruz Pacheco, Andreee Orozco, Francisco Thomas Arriaga, Vivian Velazquez Ventura, and Christian Zuniga Lazcano. Alfredo Estrella/Getty Images
Some would-be travelers also “have a political position against what is happening in the United States” and “don’t feel they would be comfortable, welcomed, or feel good there,” Fernandes said. Since Trump’s return to office, U.S. authorities have carried out some high-profile detentions of tourists at border control. Mexico, meanwhile, eased entry requirements for Brazilians in February. Fernandes said some fans he works with chose to attend games in Mexico as a result.
The trend isn’t isolated to the World Cup: Mexico is currently experiencing an upswing in international tourism, while the number of visitors to the United States fell in 2025. Of the three host countries, Mexico allows the most nationalities to enter visa-free. Though Mexico is a close U.S. partner, it has opposed some of the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign-policy moves.
The idea that Mexico would welcome teams and attendees from across the world was put to the test last month. Amid the Iran war, the United States did not want the Iranian national team to be housed on its soil, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters. The squad had planned to stay at a base camp in Arizona but moved to Tijuana, Mexico, instead. Mexico accepted the Iranian team with “no problem,” Sheinbaum said.
“Mexico gets internationalism. It values it both in sports and in geopolitics,” said Matthew Brown, a historian at the University of Bristol. He added that Mexico’s approach to the World Cup is closer to the tournament’s ideals than that of the United States: a “celebration of all the flags at the top of the stadium, and not just one.”
Mexico’s openness to the world has limits when it comes to immigration, Axel Elías, a historian at Veracruzana University, said—noting the Sheinbaum administration has quietly enforced a restrictive stance against northbound migrants. But “that restrictiveness is in terms of government policies,” Elías said, not necessarily “on the level of people-to-people relations.”
People-to-people relations will be on display as Mexico’s World Cup host cities—Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey—hold free fan festivals that authorities expect will together draw millions of people. The United States and Canada are also planning open-air viewing events, though not all are free; one in Los Angeles costs $10 to enter.
Just as with tickets, the entry price for fan festivals matters, said Heather Dichter, a historian at De Montfort University, noting that free outdoor festivals during the 2006 World Cup in Germany helped boost the country’s image.
A Mexican soldier patrols a street in Pachuca, Mexico, on June 3, amid tightened security ahead of the World Cup. Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images
Despite these early indicators of Mexico’s potential as a host, the World Cup could still reflect negatively on the country—and the United States could disprove its doubters and hold a tolerant and safe tournament.
One concern is that World Cup events in Mexico could be marred by organized crime. In February, following a government raid that left a major drug trafficker dead, retaliatory attacks by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel blocked roads near Guadalajara. Mexican security officials, however, insist that their planning and heightened deployments ahead of the tournament will keep fans safe. “In general, Mexican organized crime groups have learned that targeting foreigners is very bad for business,” Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, a researcher at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said.
The tournament experience in Mexico could be disrupted by protests. Teachers demanding changes to wage and pension policies have marched through Mexico City in recent days, and family members of disappeared people—many suspected to have been forcibly recruited into gangs—pledged to join them ahead of the opening match.
Mexico could also miss out simply because “there are too few games” in the country—13, compared to 78 in the United States, said Sergio Varela, an anthropologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “The tournament is not generating as much interest as past World Cups here,” he added. The country previously hosted the tournament in 1970 and 1986, when Brazil’s Pelé and Argentina’s Diego Maradona played starring roles.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends a flag presentation ceremony for the Mexican national football team ahead of the World Cup in Mexico City on June 8. Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images
In the United States, meanwhile, the local law enforcement agencies that will be maintaining safety are relatively unaccustomed to dealing with rowdy international soccer fans. And in April, more than 120 civil society groups issued a travel advisory for World Cup events in the country, warning that that fans, activists, and journalists could face actions including detentions, invasive electronic device searches, and suppression of protest.
But those harsh conditions might not materialize. The White House pushed back against the organizations, saying that the tournament would be “an incredible experience for all fans and visitors.” FIFA said it “is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights.”
Back in New York, Lafta said he yearns for the United States to experience a positive World Cup spirit. The country would do well to take some cues from Mexico and be “more open and more loving and better fans of soccer,” he said. “I hope that [the World Cup] can be a beautiful moment that unites people internationally.”
