The colorful world of Gianni Infantino’s US World Cup in 15 amazing instagram posts

July 27 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has responded to those criticizing his leadership and the 2026 World Cup, urging them to “meditate, pray or watch a football match” instead of “spreading hatred and false rumours” about the governing body.

In a long text published on his Instagram account and shared with FIFA’s eight million followers, Infantino defended the tournament against criticism of referees, security, political influence and travel restrictions, insisting that the tournament showed “humanity at its best”.

The 15-slide statement painted a very positive picture of the first 48-team World Cup, with Infantino saying there would be “100% safety and security, only joy and happiness” throughout the tournament.
His claims are conflicting and bruise under several of FIFA’s growing controversies that have engulfed the tournament.

Among them was the treatment of Iran, whose participation became one of the main political talking points in the tournament. Infantino praised FIFA for “working hard to unite the two countries in the war”, and said that Iran entered the United States “without incident or conflict”.

However, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei has described his team as “highly stressed” at the World Cup after visa delays, travel restrictions and entry bans for key squad members disrupted their preparations. The team was also forced to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico before the tournament began, and for some games was denied entry to the US until the day of the game and was not allowed to spend a day recovering after the game before returning to its training facility in Tijuana.

Supporters from Haiti, Senegal and the Ivory Coast have also been hit by travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration, and Somali referee Omar Artan was wrongly denied entry to the United States despite holding a diplomatic passport and a valid US visa.

Infantino dismissed those concerns.

He wrote: “He talked about a few people who refused visas and ignored the millions who were approved, from all parts of the world. “Because football unites the world, and it was shown in an amazing way this summer.”

The FIFA president reiterated that the tournament was passed without incident, saying “there was no violence”.

However, FIFA continues to investigate the post-match brawl following Spain’s World Cup final victory over Argentina, which involved several Argentine players and members of the coaching staff venting their frustrations on the Spanish team.

Separate investigations are ongoing into allegations of racial abuse directed at streamer ShowSpeed, and arrests have been made at several matches, most notably England’s semi-final against Argentina in Atlanta.

Questions about the manager and political interference resurfaced after USA striker Folarin Balogun was allowed to play in the round of 16 against Belgium despite receiving a red card in the previous round. FIFA has suspended the automatic one-match ban following US President Donald Trump’s intervention – for no reason other than to appease a self-proclaimed ‘football expert’ (who said he didn’t know what a red card meant).

The decision caused a strong response from UEFA, which described the move as “unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unfair”, while the Norwegian football federation is considering filing a formal complaint with FIFA’s Ethics committee.

Infantino rejected suggestions of political interference, saying instead that similar decisions are commonplace elsewhere.
“It is interesting that the same countries that use these practices are the ones who criticize,” he wrote, but he failed to give a single example in football or any other sport of political interference by the leader of the country by actively getting a decision overturned in the previous game that benefited his team in the next game.
Infantino concluded by urging his critics to focus less on criticism and more on football itself.

“For those who spend their time and energy hating us, please take a moment to think, meditate, pray or watch a football game and really look at the faces, the eyes, the emotions,” Infantino wrote flatteringly.

“Our world needs love, not hate; tolerance, not division; celebration, not mourning.

Yes, of course. It also needs a football governing body it can trust with its game.

Contact the author of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]