Calls from UK politicians to exclude the United States from the 2026 World Cup

Martin Macdonald

• 15 Jan 2026 07:15 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Politicians from the United Kingdom have called upon FIFA to consider excluding the United States national team from the 2026 World Cup.

The next edition of the World Cup will be the biggest ever with 48 teams set to compete, with the tournament taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Even though the USA are set to host a large majority of the fixtures next summer, certain Members or Parliament from the UK believe the national team should be banned due to president Donald Trump's current foreign policy.

Earlier this month, the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital city Caracas.

Since Trump was awarded FIFA's Inaugural 'Peace Prize' by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, he has ordered military action in Venezuela and Nigeria and has also threatened similar action in Greenland, Colombia, Iran and even fellow tournament hosts, Mexico.

This week, 23 British MPs from Labour, the Lib Dems, Green Party and Plaid Cymru have signed a motion in parliament, requesting that the United States be banned from featuring in the World Cup as well as the next Olympics, which they are also set to host.

The motion reads:

"That this House expresses concern over the escalation of United States actions against Venezuela, including the use of military force, the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, and ongoing military strikes in Venezuelan territory; notes that these actions are a direct intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and were widely condemned by United Nations as violations of Venezuelan sovereignty and international law; further notes the repeated veiled and overt threats made by senior United States officials towards other sovereign states, including Denmark, Colombia and Cuba; believes that this conduct undermines the rules-based international order; further believes that international sporting events should not be used to legitimise or normalise violations of international law by powerful states; calls on international sporting bodies, including FIFA, to consider the exclusion of the United States from the World Cup and other major international competitions until it demonstrates clear compliance with international law and respect for the sovereignty of other nations; and urges the UK Government to oppose double standards in the enforcement of international norms, regardless of a state’s power or influence."

The US claim that the capture of Maduro was justified as he is, allegedly, involved in terrorism and drug trafficking.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected" during the US intervention.

Both the US government and FIFA have not commented on the motion set out by the UK politicians, as of yet.

At the moment, Russia is banned from competing in FIFA competitions following their invasion of Ukraine.

"Let's have consistency," Brian Leishman, one of the MPs who has signed the motion, told the Daily Mirror when asked about the US action in Venezuela.

"It's an invasion of a sovereign nation and the kidnap of a president in Venezuela. I'm very critical of Maduro, I want to be very clear on that, but what we've seen is a breach of international law. When you see how Russia has been treated, which is absolutely correct, I just want there to be consistency."