The 2026 World Cup has been mired in a number of controversies, from political interference to allegations of greed and spinelessness towards FIFA in addition to officiating disputes across the widely-loathed VAR.
Al Jazeera breaks down the 5 greatest controversies of the 2026 soccer match to this point.
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FIFA advises folks to ‘chill and loosen up’ after Somalian referee denied entry to US
Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was unable to participate within the World Cup after being denied entry to america, regardless of having a sound visa.
The broader immigration insurance policies of the US administration have been extensively described as racist and discriminatory, with Washington imposing a sweeping journey ban final 12 months on residents of 12 nations, together with Somalia, and 4 groups that certified for the World Cup: Haiti, Iran, Senegal and Ivory Coast.
An official within the administration of US President Donald Trump mentioned, with out offering any proof, that Artan was denied entry due to his hyperlinks to “suspected members of terror organisations”.
However Artan is a well-respected referee and was named Confederation of African Soccer’s males’s official of the 12 months in 2025. FIFA was conspicuously silent in defending Artan, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino saying critics ought to “chill and loosen up”.
No less than Artan, who got here residence to a hero’s welcome, will probably be paid in full and can referee the UEFA Tremendous Cup subsequent season.
Balogun reprieve brings integrity of the match into query
Infantino was additionally pressured to defend FIFA’s disciplinary course of after its choice to droop USA striker Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red-card ban following a direct intervention by Trump, fuelling accusations FIFA had bowed to political stress.
Infantino mentioned that FIFA’s judicial our bodies had operated “independently and autonomously” and that he had advised Trump the Balogun case was topic to an ongoing authorized course of, after the US president personally urged him to overview the case.
The affair drew condemnation from European soccer physique UEFA, which mentioned FIFA had “crossed a pink line”. Criticism additionally got here from the Royal Belgian Soccer Affiliation, a number of nationwide federations, senior soccer coaches, officers, and politicians. Many argued that FIFA had undermined confidence in its personal disciplinary system.
Belgium, who superior to the quarterfinals with an emphatic 4-1 victory over the USA within the USA staff’s final World Cup sport, had challenged Balogun’s eligibility hours earlier than kickoff. However FIFA rejected the attraction and the striker began the match earlier than making little affect because the People exited the match with barely a whimper.
“I feel they [FIFA] made a extremely sensible choice,” Trump advised reporters on the Oval workplace. “I requested for a overview. If they’d not enable a prime participant to play I feel it [the World Cup] would have had a giant stain. I associated that feeling.”
Trump additionally questioned the standard of refereeing by Brazil’s Raphael Claus, who had despatched Balogun off, saying he was “a bit bit suspect if you happen to verify his previous.” He didn’t elaborate. The Brazilian FA rejected any suggestion concerning the integrity of the referee, whereas FIFA once more failed to totally again their official.
VAR vexation
There have been a number of rancorous selections round the usage of the much-maligned video assistant referee (VAR) system, maybe most loudly after Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 World Cup spherical of 16 defeat by Argentina.
Egypt appeared on the right track for one of many greatest upsets of the match after they led defending champions Argentina 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining on Tuesday, solely to concede three late objectives and crash out.
A lot of the controversy centred on a objective by Egypt’s Mostafa Zico within the 62nd minute that may have doubled his facet’s lead. The objective was disallowed after a VAR overview recognized a foul by an Egyptian participant within the build-up.
Coach Hossam Hassan and captain Mohamed Salah expressed their disappointment after the match, whereas a number of former gamers and tv pundits additionally questioned the officiating.
“Certainly, this isn’t inside VAR’s to overview this,” former England goalkeeper Rob Inexperienced mentioned on Fox’s broadcast of the match, referring to the foul that led to Zico’s objective being quashed. “It’s a full size of the pitch away.”
VAR was additionally a significant problem in Argentina’s 3-1 quarterfinal win over Switzerland .
Swiss ahead Breel Embolo was proven a second yellow card for simulation within the 72nd minute, 5 minutes after teammate Dan Ndoye had cancelled out Alexis Mac Allister’s early opener and with Switzerland carrying the larger menace.
The referee had initially booked Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes earlier than a prolonged VAR overview established that Embolo had not been fouled.
“There was positively no cause to award a yellow card,” Swiss coach Murat Yakin mentioned. “It was a innocent scenario. He ought to have let play proceed.”
Sky-high ticket costs
Earlier this week, it was revealed that FIFA had almost 1,200 class two tickets priced at $7,380 on sale for the World Cup last on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey within the US.
FIFA repeatedly confronted searing criticism over the cost of World Cup tickets all through varied gross sales phases forward of the match, with one fan group submitting a lawsuit over “extreme ticket costs”.
In April, FIFA had 4 tickets on its resale market priced at $2m every; Infantino joked about that, however in any other case defended the eyewatering prices, insisting that soccer’s international governing physique was obliged to make the most of legal guidelines within the US that enable tickets to be resold for hundreds of {dollars} above face worth.
FIFA additionally faces a subpoena from the US states of New York and New Jersey as a part of an investigation surrounding ticket pricing and the accuracy of seat areas for the World Cup.
‘Hydration’ industrial breaks
FIFA’s choice to introduce hydration breaks in all fixtures on the World Cup, whatever the temperature, has additionally sparked controversy.
When FIFA unveiled the rule in December, it claimed that gamers would “profit from three-minute hydration breaks in every half of video games as FIFA prioritises participant welfare” because of the warmth.
Gamers, coaches, followers and pundits have criticised the transfer for disrupting matches and for successfully splitting the sport into 4 quarters moderately than two halves – particularly as many video games haven’t been performed below overly sizzling situations.
“New York, California and Miami, in addition to the Mexican stadiums, have been sizzling sufficient, however there’s no justification for breaks on the air-conditioned arenas like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta or Vancouver,” senior meteorologist Everton Fox advised Al Jazeera.
“I do know FIFA declare to have carried out this throughout all video games to be constant,” Fox mentioned. “But it surely’s laborious to see it as something aside from a industrial enterprise value thousands and thousands of {dollars} in promoting to the US TV channels, if not billions, globally.”
