FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said “fans from all over the world will be welcome” when they attend the FIFA World Cup 26™ in Canada, Mexico and the United States next year.

Over seven million fans are expected to attend the 104 matches of the tournament, which will be the biggest yet in the competition’s near century-long history. Mr Infantino, who earlier this week met Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, explained FIFA was working with the respective governments of the co-host countries to ensure fans who want to go to the tournament will be able to do so.

“I think it’s important to clarify this. There is a lot of misconception out there. Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that,” he explained during a press conference that followed a meeting of the 54 CAF member association Presidents in Nairobi, Kenya.

“At the FIFA Club World Cup this year, we had fans coming (to the United States) from 164 different countries without, of course, a problem. Obviously, there is a process to go through to get visas and so on. This process will be smooth, it will ensure that those that qualify will be able to come with their fans.”

With 11 of the 16 Host Cities located in the US, the majority of foreign visitors will be planning to attend games in American stadiums. Mr Infantino, who has met President Donald J. Trump on a number of occasions, said there was ongoing coordination with the American authorities to streamline fans’ immigration procedures.

“We have to work on that, we have to make it better, we have to make it simpler, but there is definitely a commitment of the government in the United States to make sure that the process is smooth, so fans from all over the world will be welcome,” he added.

In addition to the three co-hosts, 10 countries have already clinched their place at the final tournament, but no African country has yet done so. Forty-one of FIFA’s 54 African Member Associations (MAs) have never participated at a FIFA World Cup, so the expansion of the number of competing teams from 32 to 48 – and of Africa’s qualifying slots to a guaranteed nine and a maximum of 10 – provides many countries with a unique opportunity to take part in the global showpiece.

Mr Infantino said the innovation had also been made to ensure the tournament, which is expected to engage some six billion people worldwide, would have an impact far beyond the pitch.

“We want to unite the world and we will unite the world next year,” explained the FIFA President. “The world needs occasions of unity, of bringing teams together, of bringing people together, of bringing fans together. We are expecting millions of fans to come to the United States, Canada and Mexico next year. We want it to be a celebration and everyone is committed to making this happen. So again everyone will be welcome, be positive and you will see it will be a great, great celebration of the greatest FIFA World Cup ever.”

The expansion of the FIFA World Cup is in line with FIFA’s Strategic Objectives for the Global Game 2023-2027 to provide more opportunities for more of FIFA’s 211 MAs to see their national teams playing on the global stage.

Other FIFA youth tournaments, such as the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™, have been expanded and also become annual events, while others, such as the FIFA Club World Cup™, the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup (from 2026) and the FIFA Women’s Club World Cup (from 2028), provide new opportunities for club teams to compete with peers beyond their own country and continent.

When questioned on the quantity of top-level football, Mr Infantino said dialogue and careful country-by country and region-by-region analysis was required to ensure an optimal fixture list.

“We need to find the right balance always between engaging the entire world – or the whole continent when it comes to Africa – and doing something only for the elite or for everyone,” said the FIFA President, who noted that though there were only four African clubs at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, no fewer than 19 different African nationalities were represented by players across the 32 competing teams.

“This opened new doors, new opportunities for players, and we, of course, always discuss with all the stakeholders – the leagues, the clubs, the associations, etc. – to come together to find really what is the right balance, what makes more sense,” he added. “We see that the stadiums are full, especially when home teams are playing, and there is a lot of enthusiasm and engagement. And maybe for some players or some teams or some countries sometimes there is too much football, in others there is not enough football. And who says there is not enough football is actually the majority of cases and situations? So we need to address all this and try to find the right balance.”

Mr Infantino also highlighted the role FIFA has played in developing football via direct investment, notably through FIFA Forward, which provides funding for tailormade projects inspired by the needs and ambitions of each MA. Now in its third phase, FIFA Forward can provide up to USD 8 million to each MA between 2023-26, seven times the amount they received when compared to the 2011-14 cycle.

“We are investing more in terms of the revenues that we make in football in Kenya and all over Africa. And one thing that we tend to forget in Africa, like in other parts of the world, in the next weeks you have some important games, qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. And we tend to forget that what we did was double the number of African representatives in the FIFA World Cup. There were five. At this FIFA World Cup there will be nine or ten. So, this is something which will bring, of course, even more development to African football,” said Mr Infantino ahead of the African Nations Championship 2024 final, which he emphasised was – like other regional and continental competitions – also a significant driver of progress.

“We gave something for everyone. And this is already, I think, a step forward. But also, we believe very much in FIFA and in CAF as well, in the regional/zonal associations, and the zonal competitions. And obviously, we will be looking into these questions to see how we can make it even better.”