麻豆社

As the United States gets ready to host the Fifa World Cup 2026, Americast looks at what鈥檚 behind the close relationship between Donald Trump and the president of football鈥檚 world governing body, Gianna Infantino.

Sarah and Anthony go back to 2018, in Trump鈥檚 first term, when America won its bid to host the 2026 World Cup. We look at how the relationship between Infantino and Trump has developed since then, and examine claims that the Fifa World Cup is being over politicised by both men.

The US president has threatened to move scheduled games away from Democrat cities, and the Fifa president has been criticised for creating a special peace prize that Donald Trump is widely expected to win.

What does the World Cup really mean for Donald Trump, and how will that impact on wider America, and the fans who watch the event?

Hosts Sarah Smith, North America editor and Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent are joined by guest Henry Bushnell, senior writer for the Athletic

Producer: George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve

Sound engineer: Mike Regaard

Editor: Sam Bonham

Get in touch:
鈥� Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
鈥� Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
鈥� Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
鈥� Or use #Americast

If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on 麻豆社 Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.

You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask 麻豆社 Sounds to play Americast鈥�. It works on most smart speakers.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony鈥檚 麻豆社 newsletter: /news/world-us-canada-68093155

Americast is part of the 麻豆社 News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

Newscast: /sounds/series/p05299nl
Ukrainecast: /sounds/brand/p0bqztzm
Radical: /sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
The Global Story: /sounds/brand/w13xtvsd

Show less