President Donald Trump is set to miss the United States’ opening game against on Friday against Paraguay.
Commencing their Group D campaign at World Cup 2026, the USA and Paraguay clash in Los Angeles on Friday as the host nation aims to use their home advantage to pick up 3 points.
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Ranked 16th in the world, the US are now set for a 12th World Cup as excitement and tension grows ahead of the opening game between South Africa and Mexico on Thursday night.
Trump’s hardline immigration policies on fans and even Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan have caused troubles before the tournament has even begun.
This, alongside extortionate ticket prices has led to many staying at home for the competition as fans are prices out the beautiful game.
Now, as the US seek to open their campaign with a win, The Athletic and The Mirror report that Trump will miss USA’s opening game as he seeks to attend the UFC event taking place on June 14th.
This comes after the Emir of Qatar attended in 2022, President Vladimir Putin of Russia attended in 2018 and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil attended in 2014 in what is almost a tradition for the hosting nations.
The opener sees the USA meet Paraguay at a World Cup for the first time in 96 years in which they won 3-0.
Interestingly, Paraguay have won just one of eight World Cup openers to date, while they have failed to win either of two previous games against a host nation which bodes well for the USA even if their president won’t be in attendance.
