00:00Today is the 11th of June, which means the World Cup begins.
00:03It's the most exciting day of the year if you're an avid football fan.
00:12The 2026 World Cup, which is the largest World Cup to date,
00:16will kick off with historic ceremonies across the host countries, the US, Canada and Mexico.
00:21Today, one of the hosts, Mexico, will be facing South Africa in Mexico City
00:25and then South Korea taking on Czechia in Guadalajara in Mexico.
00:30The excitement, of course, is palpable.
00:32But this year, the high spurts could be marred by geopolitics,
00:35immigration enforcement and the Trump administration's travel ban.
00:39For the view from Brussels, we can bring in now the EU Commissioner for Sports,
00:42Glenn Mishailaf. Good morning.
00:44Good morning.
00:45Great to have you with us. I know you're a big football fan.
00:47I'm a huge football fan.
00:49And I know you're actually not too bad at football as well.
00:51We have some pictures there we can play of you showing off your football skills there.
00:56Did you ever dream of being a professional football player?
00:59I actually played football when I was younger.
01:02So ever since I could walk, I always remember myself carrying my football around.
01:07So how are you feeling then today? Could you even sleep last night over the World Cup?
01:10I can't wait for the kickoff later on today.
01:12So I've been, for the past few months, immersing myself.
01:15I have World Cup fever at the moment.
01:17You have World Cup fever.
01:18And does the Berlin Monsuit, does the European Commission, what's the vibe like there?
01:21I know there are a couple of people in the corridors of the Berlin Monsuit who are also
01:25really keen on what's happening and following the developments of their favourite football team.
01:32And will you even stay up late to watch some of the games?
01:34I will try to watch all of the games.
01:36So there are 16 European teams that are participating.
01:40I'm really looking forward to watching all their matches, but all other matches as well.
01:45Because this is one of the biggest sporting events on the planet, along with the Olympic Games.
01:50Who are you up for? Who's going to take it home?
01:53My prediction would be two teams, either Spain or France.
01:56But I think Spain will win it at the end.
01:58Well, you've got football fever.
02:00And of course, everyone's talking about the games, from TikTok influencers to schoolgoers
02:03who are swapping football stickers.
02:05Because last time, 1.5 billion of us tuned in for the final.
02:09And now for the view from the EU quarter here on who could take home the Cup.
02:13EURO News' Adlan Leal went out with the EURO News mic.
02:17The biggest ever World Cup starts today.
02:20For the first time, three different countries will host the event.
02:22A record number of 104 games will be played.
02:25And the number of participants has been extended to 48.
02:28Here in Brussels, not only Europe's capital, but also one of the most international cities in the world,
02:34people will surely be watching closely.
02:36But who do they think is going to win and why? Let's find out.
02:39I want England to win the World Cup because after 60 years of hurt,
02:44now it's finally time for football to come home.
02:47But who's going to win the World Cup?
02:48Probably France. What can I say?
02:50I think Belgium is going to win because they deserve it.
02:52We have Italian coaches abroad.
02:56Ancelotti is coaching Brazil.
02:58Cannavaro is coaching Uzbekistan.
03:00And Montella is with Turquie.
03:01We can take comfort in their successes.
03:06I think Portugal will win the World Cup because of Cristiano Ronaldo's last tournament.
03:12I believe Brazil because I'm Brazilian.
03:14Even living in Europe, I believe it's Brazil.
03:17Not because I believe we're the best.
03:18We will only know at the end.
03:20I want that Mexico wins because of our Berlin-Beneda.
03:25But I think Spain or France will win it.
03:29Back-to-back for Messi, Argentina.
03:31And we also support Willis Emedo and Cape Verde.
03:33I would love Scotland to win it.
03:34So after 20 years, it's the first time back.
03:36And I think either France or Spain can win it.
03:39At the end of the day, I want my country to win the World Cup.
03:42So Islamic Republic of Iran, always.
03:45I want Uzbekistan to win.
03:47Who I think should win is Ghana.
03:50But who I think will win, Brazil or France.
03:57So many there reckon France will take it home.
03:59And of course, the bookies are saying it's between France and Spain.
04:02We'll have to wait and see.
04:03Some bold predictions there.
04:04We'll have to wait and see.
04:05Because of course, football is meant to unite, Commissioner.
04:08But this year, thousands cannot go.
04:10They're left out due to travel bans, visa restrictions.
04:13L'Equipe here, a French daily, kind of captured the mood this year.
04:17The kind of vibe that's overshadowing a lot of the headlines.
04:21How will these games bring the world together if so many people are left out?
04:23But for starters, I hope that this World Cup will be remembered for pure football excitement,
04:29for the joy and passion it brings on the pitch, but also for millions of fans around the world
04:35who, in times like these, come together in squares, in bars, in cafes to watch their favorite teams.
04:41Of course, it's about accessibility.
04:43These decisions on who has access are for the host country also to take decisions on.
04:51But I hope that this will be one of the World Cups that's remembered for football excitement
04:56and for the joy it brings.
04:57Because the reality is that it's not.
04:59That is not the case.
05:00We've seen one top African referee, a Somali national.
05:03He cannot enter the US.
05:04He cannot participate.
05:05And these are the headlines that are overshadowing and kind of dampening the mood this year.
05:10Well, of course, you always have around big sporting events, whatever they are, controversies.
05:17These are, of course, issues that merit attention.
05:21But my hope is that for the time being, we focus on sport, on football and on the joy it
05:28brings.
05:28And what about Iran?
05:29We saw some lady there, she was expressing her hope that Iran would win.
05:32But we've seen many Iranian-Americans out on the streets as well telling FIFA
05:36they should have cancelled Iran's participation due to the ongoing war
05:39because the Iranians are using their players to try to make themselves look good on the world stage.
05:44What's your view here?
05:45Well, it's good that finally there is a solution and the Iranian national team
05:49can participate in the tournament.
05:51I think the Iranian team qualified and on merit they should participate.
05:56So I think it's good that finally they can be on the pitch and show the world what football is
06:03about,
06:04which is bringing people together and bringing countries together.
06:08Bringing people together, of course.
06:09And it's the topic that we dived into as well this week on The Ring,
06:12that is Euronews' debating show.
06:14We asked did Donald Trump perhaps, you know, kill the vibe a little bit this year.
06:18We've seen ticket sales and hotel bookings are below expectations, especially in the United States.
06:23We can take a listen out to MEPs that we're debating in the European Parliament this week.
06:27The Austrian MEP, Lukas Mandl, and Rasmus Andersens from The Greens.
06:32Dear colleague, you have advocated for boycotting the World Cup.
06:36I don't agree with that.
06:37I think the excitement about football is much bigger than politics can ever be.
06:40And the direct question would be, how would you explain to, let's say, a child excited about football,
06:46just interested into football and this exciting game,
06:50how would you explain to such a child to boycott the game?
06:53I did not advocate to boycott the tournament, especially not for supporters.
06:58But what I think politicians should do is to take a clear stance
07:01and to criticize both the FIFA but also the current U.S. administration
07:05on the mistakes they are making when it also comes to organizing sports.
07:11And there I think that politicians have a different kind of responsibility,
07:17meaning that they should not travel there and be part of the tournament
07:22and green light both the actions of the FIFA and of the U.S. president.
07:28So for me, it's not a general boycott, but I think as politicians,
07:31we should not go there and then support.
07:36A glimpse of the ring there that you can catch the rest of, of course, on Euronews.
07:40What's your view here? What would you say to a kid?
07:42First of all, I don't think boycotts will solve anything in this respect.
07:46I think we should not deprive fans of the opportunities to follow their favorite teams.
07:51This is, I think, one of the moments where people can come together.
07:57This being said, I think, of course, football should be accessible to everyone.
08:03And I'm quite happy to see politicians around the world organizing and making spaces available
08:09for people to come and watch their favorite teams.
08:12And this is also an opportunity to highlight that here in Europe,
08:16there are governing bodies in sports like UEFA,
08:20who has a fan-first policy, which makes these games, these sporting events accessible to people.
08:27And that's the kind of sport that I want to see.
08:29Well, you mentioned UEFA just on the Champions League.
08:31We saw a few weeks ago, unfortunately, the games were dampened by the violence that broke out in Paris.
08:36What's your responsibility here as the EU Commissioner for Sport to try and improve the situation?
08:40Well, of course, sporting events have to be safe.
08:44But this also involves a lot of coordination between the hosts,
08:48in this case, the countries which would be hosting these games,
08:52and the bodies which are organizing them.
08:54So there needs to be a lot of coordination in this respect to make these sporting events as safe as
09:00possible.
09:01Okay, Commissioner Glenn Micheleff, thank you so much for coming into us this morning
09:04on this very exciting day as that World Cup gets underway.
09:11We'll see you next time.
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