During a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Washington this week, President Donald Trump floated a bold new idea: use the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a peace incentive to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. And surprisingly — even to his critics — it might just have legs.
With the tournament set to be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, discussions naturally turned to international participation. Infantino brought up Russia’s ongoing ban from FIFA events, stemming from its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. To Trump’s apparent surprise, he hadn’t realized Russia was still excluded.
“I didn’t know that, is that right?” Trump asked. “He is the boss, I am not the boss on that.”
Infantino confirmed the ban but expressed hope that Russia might eventually return to global sports if peace is restored. That’s when Trump jumped in with a creative twist: use the World Cup as leverage.
“That’s possible,” Trump said. “Hey, that could be a good incentive, right? We want to get them to stop. We want them to stop. Five thousand young people a week are being killed. It’s not even believable — the Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers, mostly.”
The president then reiterated his goal of ending the war, saying, “Horrible things going on over there. We are going to get that war stopped.”
Trump’s comments came during a broader effort by his administration to de-escalate global tensions while showcasing American leadership heading into the 2026 World Cup, now less than 14 months away. And while some may scoff at the notion of a sports tournament helping resolve a war, history suggests otherwise. The Olympic Games, international summits, and even Nobel Peace Prizes have long been tied to efforts at diplomacy and ceasefires.
Trump’s thinking seems to be this: with billions of eyes on the World Cup and nations competing for the spotlight, Russia could have an incentive to bring an end to the fighting — or at least pause hostilities — in order to rejoin the world stage.
Critics of the idea have already started to chirp, calling it naive or unserious. But Trump supporters point out that the president has always thrived on unconventional tactics, from economic pressure to international deal-making. In this case, they say, he’s simply applying his signature art-of-the-deal mindset to a global crisis — and offering a way out that doesn’t involve a single bullet.
Trump didn’t go into detail about what a ceasefire-for-entry deal might look like, nor did Infantino make any commitments about policy shifts. But with casualties continuing to mount in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the possibility of a non-military incentive being tied to participation in the world’s biggest sporting event is likely to gain traction.
Notably, Trump isn’t the first to tie sports to diplomacy, but he may be the first to do it with the World Cup — and the media spotlight it commands. With FIFA preparing for what may be the largest global sporting event in history, pressure is building for nations to resolve conflicts before the games begin.
For now, the idea is just that — an idea. But it’s one that could redefine peacebuilding in the modern era. And if it works, it would mark a stunning diplomatic victory pulled off not with sanctions or summits — but with soccer.