World Cup news: Donald Trump’s status for USMNT’s first game revealed

In less than a few hours, the host nation, the USMNT, is set to play its first World Cup match of the tournament, when they take on Paraguay. The two world-class teams are set to clash at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood.

However, based on how close the USA President Donald Trump is with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, there still remained confusion about his status for the USMNT’s first game of the year.

The World Cup task force’s CEO, Andrew Giuliani, has now confirmed that Trump will not attend the United States men’s national team’s opening game of the tournament against Paraguay. Previously, The Athletic reported that Trump was not planning to be at the fixture. The State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin would be present at the game.

In a recent interview, Giuliani confirmed the news, stating that Trump’s schedule was the reason he wouldn’t be attending. However, he also expected the U.S. president to become more involved in the World Cup as the tournament progressed.

“He’s not going to end up attending the opening game,” Giuliani told UK radio station TalkSport. “As we’ve said, his scheduling is tight. But I know he’s going to be engaged throughout this World Cup.

“But the one thing, having known President Trump for now 30 years, what I can tell you is: expect the unexpected. Always expect a cliffhanger with him. Throughout the course of this tournament, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see him engage more and more with the World Cup.”

It is extremely uncommon for a country’s head to miss their team’s opening game at the FIFA World Cup. Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, attended in 2022, President Vladimir Putin of Russia attended in 2018, and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil attended in 2014. Interestingly, Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, also missed her country’s opening game against South Africa.

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