GIANNI INFANTINO did not hang about when congratulating Donald Trump.
The Fifa chief was beaten to the punch by Sir Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron in sending messages.
But he got his good wishes out before anything from either Russia or Saudi Arabia.
Infantino — who has never attempted to hide his reverence for political strongmen — posted a picture on Instagram from an Oval Office meeting when he presented the now-returning President with a shirt with his name and No 26.
With the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico looming, Infantino wrote: “Congratulations Mr President!
“We will have a great Fifa World Cup and a great Fifa Club World Cup in the United States of America. Football unites the world.”
Tuesday’s election results, in which Trump’s slogan of MAGA — Make America Great Again — saw him on his way back to the White House, were greeted with a mix of emotions in the political world.
Yet Infantino’s response was further evidence that Trump’s comprehensive victory will have a significant impact on the sporting world.
And it will have a far further reach than when Trump helped Saint and Greavsie with a League Cup draw back in 1991!
This impact will not just be for football, where the game’s greatest showpiece — and newest invention — will both be held in the space of 12 months starting next summer.
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It will also have a big effect on golf, the Olympics and potentially other sports as well.
The main question is how Trump’s return to power will affect America’s relationship with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Trump has previously praised the Kremlin chief, leading to huge fears in Ukraine that they will be abandoned to their fate.
It is probably too late for Russia to be allowed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Uefa’s draw will be staged in Zurich next month, with Russia still banned after the invasion of their neighbours.
Unless there is an unlikely reversal, there is no obvious way Russia could be reverse-engineered into the tournament.
But one issue could be Iran’s participation.
The second Trump presidency is almost certain to double down on the anti-Tehran rhetoric and escalate the strong sanctions that are already in place against the country’s regime.
While Fifa has prevented teams from taking part in qualification in the past, no side that has earned a place has previously been excluded.
Yet an Iranian squad walking into the USA in 2026 — they are firmly on course to qualify — and then mouthing slogans hostile to the hosts would be seen as deliberate provocation.
For much of the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Iran is a pariah state.
Trump National courses in Washington DC, Miami and the New Jersey town of Bedminster hosted Saudi-backed LIV events across the three seasons of the breakaway golf tour.
His election win will only intensify the pressure on PGA Tour bosses to find a long-term agreement giving the Saudis a major role in the sport’s future.
LIV golfer and current US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau played a round with Trump for his YouTube channel and was invited on stage at the President-Elect’s victory rally yesterday.
The 2028 LA Olympics will also have an extra edge.
Trump, whose campaign promise was to “keep biological men out of women’s sport”, will be invited to address the Opening Ceremony.
The Paris boxing gender furore over Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu Ting has not dissipated.
IOC bosses have clamped down on “political” activity but a Trump presidency may be a target too big for trans rights activists or those from nations who feel threatened by Russia.
Trump could back Russia’s calls for their reintegration into the Olympics.
And that could spark the first mass boycott since the last LA Games in 1984, when the Warsaw Pact avenged the US-led abstention from Moscow four years earlier.
THE 2026 World Cup final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
There will be 48 teams, as opposed to the 32 that has been the norm since 1998. More from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Even, for the first time, a guaranteed slot for Oceania, and a record 104 MATCHES.
The US, Mexico and Canada will host the expanded tournament, which will take place over 39 days.
Cases were made for alternative final venues, including Texas' AT&T Stadium.
But it will be MetLife Stadium that hosts the showpiece occasion on July 19, 2026.
The 82,500-seater venue is one of seven that will need to have artificial surfaces replaced by grass for the tournament.
The opening match of the tournament will be hosted by Mexico City's Estadio Azteca on June 11.
The iconic venue previously hosted World Cup finals in 1970 and 1986.
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