FIFA Chief Thinks US can Become Top Three Football (Soccer) Country

America’s football potential is ready for the top level – Infantino

Infantino, who was recently on a visit to the White House, met US President Donald Trump to hold discussions about the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged mainly in the US, along with the help of Canada and Mexico.

The 48-year-old is certain that the US can develop into a top three football nation in the imminent future, considering they’ve got everything they need to achieve that; players with desire, an ever-growing competitive league, high-tech facilities, youth-development programmes and other important factors are part of the mix that can elevate US football to another level.

The FIFA president said:

“What I want to see is the US – the US league, the US national team, US youth development structures, boys and girls – being part of the top three in the world […]. We have economic power in the US, we have the sports DNA and culture and the competitiveness of the people. All the ingredients are there.”

“There is a lot of great work which has been done, including with the MLS. As it is, in the world, maybe it is No. 20 or 30, the league and football movement in general? I don’t know. It should be one, two or three. As FIFA president, I want football to prosper all around the world, and if there is a country where all the ingredients are already there.”

FIFA awarded the 2026 World Cup to a joint-bid of three nations

Earlier this year, FIFA voted to have the first-ever World Cup that will be hosted by three nations, as USA, Mexico and Canada won their collective bid for the 2026 event. Providers of internet betting in the US report that a total of 16 cities will stage the games across the three host nations, with US cities staging most of them (10) while Canada and Mexico are set to split the remainder of host duties equally.

And on top of that, the tournament will then be expanded to 48 teams, instead of the current format of 32 teams that will be employed for the final time at the next tournament, in 2022 Qatar. As a result, it will see each of the member confederations expand the number of qualifying nations to the finals.

A number of concerns were raised about the logistical challenges of splitting the tournament across three countries (it must be noted that all three of the aforementioned nations are rather large as they cover a huge surface area). It could prove too much of a hurdle for players to perform well at games after travelling for longer periods, if their matches are selected to be hosted in cities on opposing ends.

So it’s questionable how well the 2026 World Cup will work for the players, let alone the fans who will have to shell out a fortune just on travelling expenses associated with watching World Cup matches.