08:44The 2026 World Cup, which is the largest World Cup to date, will kick off with historic
08:48ceremonies across the host countries, the US, Canada, and Mexico. Today, one of the hosts,
08:53Mexico, will be facing South Africa in Mexico City, and then South Korea taking on Czechia
08:59in Guadalajara in Mexico. The excitement, of course, is palpable, but this year the high
09:04spurts could be marred by geopolitics, immigration enforcement, and the Trump administration's
09:09travel ban. For the view from Brussels, we can bring in now the EU Commissioner for
09:13sport, Glenn Michailov. Good morning.
09:15Good morning. Great to have you with us. I know
09:17you're a big football fan. I am a huge
09:19football fan. And I know you're actually not too
09:21bad at football as well. We actually, we have some
09:23pictures there we can play of you showing
09:25off your football skills there.
09:27Did you ever dream of being a
09:29professional football player? I actually
09:30played football when I was younger
09:32so ever since I could walk
09:34I always remember myself carrying
09:37my football around. So how are you feeling then
09:39today? Could you even sleep last night over the World Cup?
09:40I can't wait for the kick-off later on
09:43today. So I've been, for the past
09:44few months, immersing myself. I have
09:46World Cup fever at the moment.
09:48And does the Berlimont too? Does the European Commission?
09:51What's the vibe like there? I know there
09:52are a couple of people in the corridors
09:54of the Berlimont who are also
09:57really keen on what's
09:58happening and following the development
10:01of their favourite football
10:02teams. And will you even stay up late to watch
10:04some of the games? I will try to watch all
10:06of the games. So there are
10:0816 European teams that are
10:10participating. I'm really looking
10:12forward to watching all their
10:14matches, but all other matches as well
10:16because this is one of the biggest
10:18sporting events on the planet, along with
10:20the Olympic Games. Who are you up for? Who's
10:22going to take it home? My
10:24prediction would be two teams, either
10:26Spain or France, but I think Spain will
10:28win it at the end. Well you've got football
10:30fever and of course everyone's talking about the games
10:32from TikTok influencers to schoolgoers
10:34who are swapping football stickers
10:36because last time 1.5 billion
10:38of us tuned in for the final. And now
10:40for the view from the EU quarter here on
10:42who could take home the cup,
10:44Euronews' Adlan Leal went out
10:46with the Euronews mic.
10:48The biggest ever World Cup starts today.
10:50For the first time three different countries
10:52will host the event, a record number of
10:54104 games will be played
10:56and the number of participants has been
10:58extended to 48. Here in
11:00Brussels, not only Europe's capital but
11:02also one of the most international cities
11:04in the world, people will surely be
11:06watching closely. But who do they think
11:08is going to win and why? Let's find out.
11:10I want England to win the World Cup
11:12because after 60 years
11:14of hurt, now it's finally time
11:16for football to come home.
11:18But who's going to win the World Cup? Probably
11:20to be friends, what can I say?
11:21I think Belgium is going to win because
11:23they deserve it.
11:23We have Italian coaches abroad.
11:27Ancelotti is coaching Brazil,
11:29Cannavaro is coaching Uzbekistan,
11:31and Montella is with Turquie.
11:32We can take comfort in their successes.
11:37I think Portugal will win the World Cup
11:39because of Cristiano Ronaldo's last tournament.
11:42I believe Brazil because I'm Brazilian.
11:45Even living in Europe, I believe it's Brazil.
11:48Not because I believe we're the best.
11:49We will only know at the end.
11:51I want that Mexico wins
11:53because of our Berlin-Veneda.
11:56But I think
11:58Spain or France, they will win it.
11:59Back-to-back for Messi, Argentina,
12:01and we also support Willis-Emedo
12:03and Cape Verde.
12:04I would love Scotland to win it, so after 20 years
12:06it's the first time back, and I think either
12:08France or Spain can win it.
12:10At the end of the day, I want my country to win
12:12in the World Cup, so Islamic Republic of Iran, always.
12:16I want Uzbekistan to win.
12:18Who I think should win is Ghana,
12:20but who I think will win, Brazil or France.
12:28So many there reckon France will take it home,
12:30and of course the bookies are saying
12:31it's between France and Spain.
12:33We'll have to wait and see.
12:35We'll have to wait and see, because of course
12:36football is meant to unite, Commissioner.
12:39But this year, thousands cannot go.
12:41They're left out due to travel bans,
12:43visa restrictions.
12:44L'Equipe here, a French daily,
12:46kind of captured the mood this year,
12:48the kind of vibe that's overshadowing
12:50a lot of the headlines.
12:51How will these games bring the world together
12:53if so many people are left out?
12:55For starters, I hope that this World Cup
12:57will be remembered for pure football
12:59excitement, for the joy and passion
13:01it brings on the pitch,
13:04but also for millions of fans around the world
13:06who, in times like these,
13:08come together in squares, in bars and cafes
13:10to watch their favourite teams.
13:12Of course, it's about accessibility.
13:14These decisions on who has access
13:18are for the host country also
13:20to take decisions on,
13:22but I hope that this will be
13:23one of the World Cups that's remembered
13:25for football excitement
13:27and for the joy it brings.
13:28Because the reality is that it's not.
13:30That is not the case.
13:31We've seen one top African referee,
13:33a Somali national.
13:34He cannot enter the US.
13:35He cannot participate.
13:36And these are the headlines
13:37that are overshadowing
13:38and kind of dampening the mood this year.
13:41Well, of course, you always have
13:43around big sporting events,
13:45whatever they are, controversies.
13:48And these are, of course,
13:50issues that merit attention.
13:52But my hope is that for the time being,
13:54we focus on sport, on football
13:57and on the joy it brings.
13:59And what about Iran?
14:00We saw some lady there,
14:01she was expressing her hope
14:02that Iran would win.
14:03But we've seen many Iranian-Americans
14:05out on the streets as well
14:06telling FIFA
14:07they should have cancelled
14:08Iran's participation
14:09due to the ongoing war
14:10because the Iranians are using
14:11their players to try
14:13to make themselves look good
14:14on the world stage.
14:15What's your view here?
14:16Well, it's good that finally
14:17there is a solution
14:18and the Iranian national team
14:20can participate in the tournament.
14:22I think the Iranian team
14:24qualified and on merit
14:26they should participate.
14:27So I think it's good that finally
14:29they can be on the pitch
14:31and show the world
14:33what football is about,
14:35which is bringing people together
14:37and bringing countries together.
14:39Bringing people together, of course.
14:40And it's the topic
14:41that we dived into as well
14:42this week on The Ring,
14:43that is Uri News' debating show.
14:45We asked, did Donald Trump
14:46perhaps, you know,
14:47kill the vibe a little bit this year?
14:49We've seen ticket sales
14:50and hotel bookings
14:51are below expectations,
14:52especially in the United States.
14:54We can take a listen out
14:55to MEPs that we're debating
14:57in the European Parliament this week.
14:58The Austrian MEP,
14:59Lucas Mandel,
15:00and Rasmus Andersen's
15:01from the Greens.
15:03Dear colleague,
15:04you have advocated
15:05for boycotting the World Cup.
15:07I don't agree with that.
15:08I think the excitement
15:09about football
15:09is much bigger than politics
15:11can ever be.
15:12And the direct question would be,
15:14how would you explain to,
15:15let's say, a child
15:16excited about football,
15:17just interested in football
15:19and this exciting game,
15:20how would you explain
15:21to such a child
15:22to boycott the game?
15:24I did not advocate
15:25to boycott the tournament,
15:27especially not for supporters.
15:28But what I think politicians
15:30should do is to take a chance
15:32and to criticize both the FIFA,
15:34but also the current
15:35US administration
15:36on the mistakes they are making
15:39when it also comes
15:40to organizing sports.
15:42And there I think that politicians
15:44have a different kind
15:46of responsibility,
15:47meaning that they should not
15:50travel there and be part
15:52of the tournament
15:53and green light both the actions
15:57of the FIFA and of the US
15:59president.
15:59So for me it's not a general boycott,
16:01but I think as politicians
16:02we should not go there
16:03and then support.
16:07A glimpse of the ring there
16:08that you can catch the rest of,
16:09of course, on Euronews.
16:10What's your view here?
16:11What would you say to a kid?
16:13First of all, I don't think
16:14boycotts will solve anything
16:16in this respect.
16:17I think we should not deprive
16:19fans of the opportunities
16:20to follow their favorite teams.
16:22this is, I think,
16:24one of the moments
16:25where people can come together.
16:28This being said,
16:29I think, of course,
16:31football should be accessible
16:32to everyone.
16:34And I'm quite happy to see
16:36politicians around the world
16:37organizing and making spaces
16:39available for people to come
16:41and watch their favorite teams.
16:43And this is also an opportunity
16:45to highlight that here in Europe
16:47there are governing bodies
16:49in sports like UEFA,
16:51who has a fan first policy
16:53which makes these games,
16:55these sporting events
16:56accessible to people.
16:58And that's the kind of sport
16:59that I want to see.
17:00Well, you mentioned UEFA
17:01just on the Champions League
17:02we saw a few weeks ago.
17:03Unfortunately, the games
17:04were dampened by the violence
17:06that broke out in Paris.
17:07What's your responsibility here
17:08as the EU Commissioner for Sports
17:10to try and improve the situation?
17:11Well, of course,
17:12sporting events have to be safe.
17:15But this also involves
17:16a lot of coordination
17:17between the hosts,
17:19in this case,
17:20the countries which would be
17:21hosting these games,
17:22and the bodies
17:24which are organizing them.
17:25So there needs to be
17:26a lot of coordination
17:27in this respect
17:28to make these sporting events
17:30as safe as possible.
17:32Okay, Commissioner Glenn Michelef,
17:33thank you so much
17:34for coming into us this morning
17:35on this very exciting day
17:37as that World Cup gets underway.
17:39But as we've been discussing,
17:41the headlines about
17:42this year's World Cup
17:43have focused less on football
17:44and more on issues
17:45like exploding ticket prices,
17:47fan boycotts,
17:48security and visa bars, etc.
17:50Our Jacob Janus takes
17:51a closer look at the long list.
18:07I call it soccer, you know,
18:09it's just easier to do
18:11because we have football
18:12and they have two footballs,
18:13right?
18:14They call it football.
18:15But while the football elite
18:16rub shoulders in Washington,
18:18the game is hitting a metaphorical
18:19and physical wall
18:21at the US border.
18:22You see,
18:23the international teams,
18:24referees and everyday fans
18:26find it a bit difficult
18:27to see the games
18:28which start today.
18:29What is going on there?
18:33FIFA expects to pocket
18:34more than $3 billion
18:36from ticket sales
18:37and hospitality alone.
18:39But corporate pricing
18:40has broken the marketplace.
18:41Ticket packages
18:42to follow a team
18:43to the final
18:44are now estimated
18:45to cost five times more
18:47than four years ago.
18:49On top of that,
18:50nearly 180,000 tickets
18:52are flooding the official resale market
18:54and median resale prices
18:56have plunged by 20%
18:58in a single month.
18:59But the biggest bust is happening
19:01at the border security checkpoints.
19:03Infantino's sports diplomacy
19:05means nothing
19:06to US immigration officers
19:07enforcing hard travel bans
19:09against four qualified nations
19:11including Iran and Somalia.
19:13And US border agents
19:14just locked Somalia's top referee
19:16in a cell for 11 hours
19:18before throwing him
19:19out of the country.
19:20Iraq's star striker
19:22was detained in Chicago
19:23for seven hours
19:24and currently the Iranian squad
19:26is stranded
19:27training across the border
19:28in Tijuana
19:29because Washington refused visas
19:31to 15 members
19:32of their staff
19:33including the head
19:35of the Football Federation.
19:36So it looks like
19:37the very definition
19:38of a global sporting event
19:39is being rewritten
19:41before our own eyes.
19:43The opening week
19:44proves that football
19:45does not unite the world.
19:46It is national borders
19:48and strict immigration laws
19:49that are defining
19:50who gets to play
19:51and who stays at home.
19:53So can FIFA
19:54hold this World Cup together?
19:55Tune in on tonight
19:57to find out
19:58as Mexico opens
19:59the tournament
20:00playing against South Africa.
20:02Oh, and remember
20:03Euronews will be covering
20:04the games
20:05and the whole political
20:06sideshow surrounding them
20:08for you.
20:12So there you go, Euronews.com.
20:14That is your source
20:15to find out all
20:16about the games.
20:17You can also write
20:18to us here at
20:19Europe Today at
20:19Euronews.com
20:20to tell us what you think
20:21of this year's World Cup
20:232026.
20:24But that does bring
20:25this edition of
20:26Europe Today to an end.
20:27Thank you so much
20:28for tuning in as always.
20:29Take care and see you
20:30soon here on Euronews.
20:32.
20:34.
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