Donald Trump’s ‘Visa Bond’ is turning the U.S. World Cup into a government shakedown

The 2026 FIFA World Cup became a farce the second Gianni Infantino presented U.S. President Donald Trump with the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize Award,” only for him to then topple the government of Venezuela and authorize military action in Iran, which resulted in 170 children being killed when their school was bombed. Now, FIFA is desperately trying to keep their games together amidst the realization that new federal visa requirements, brought into law by Trump, amounts to a shakedown of both fans and players planning to attend the World Cup.

The United States State Department published guidelines on its “Visa Bond” program last week, which targets the citizens of 50 developing or impoverished nations, forcing them to pay exorbitant visa fees to enter the United States. It raises the total sum of a U.S. Visa from $435 at the close of 2025, to now requiring travelers from these 50 nations to pay $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 — with the determination on the bond amount only being made after a visa interview.

This is a mammoth problem for FIFA, because five African nations set to take part in the World Cup are on the list of countries requiring Visa Bonds: Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Cape Verde, and the Ivory Coast. Not only does this effectively end almost any hope of fans traveling to the Unites States to see games, but there is no provision in the Visa Bond guidelines to allow for waivers. This means that as the rules currently stand, teams could be forced to pay up to $390,000 for players to travel into the United States for the World Cup, and even more when coaches and support staff are factored in. This makes it prohibitively expensive for some developing nations to justify the expense.

While the federal government touts the bond as a “financial incentive to ensure people don’t overstay their Visas,” critics note that the bond is tantamount to a financial border to keep people out of the United States. Regardless of whether or not funds are returned, it’s functionally impossible for a citizen of the Ivory Coast, for instance, to afford a $10,000 or $15,000 bond fee when the average yearly salary in the country is $4,920.

This is adding yet another mammoth hurdle to an already complicated World Cup. All signs point to Iran choosing not to attend, meaning groups may need to be shuffled — and now this new group of nations are needing to deal with the Visa Bond issue. New rules are increasingly more complicated considering that North America is hosting their World Cup, not the United States as a monolith — with Canada and Mexico not having the same barriers to entry.

With only a few short months before kickoff there are still huge question marks looming over how this World Cup will operate.