OPINION9 JUN 2026Are Africans welcome at the World Cup?African music megastars Tyla and Rema are scheduled to perform at the World Cup’s opening ceremony in Los Angeles.…Vincent Sima OleAhmar Maiga4 min read

This year’s World Cup, which begins on June 11 across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, features 10 African teams, more than ever before. But despite African success on the soccer field, many fans from African countries do not feel welcome at the World Cup. FIFA’s weak response to the US government’s immigration crackdown, which includes travel restrictions targeting dozens of African nations, means many African soccer fans and journalists areunable or unwillingto visit the US.

Citizens from all African countries facing partial visa bans, as well as from another 16 countries across the continent, may have to pay avisa bondof up to $15,000,returnedonce US authorities confirm they have exited the country. Trump has also suspendedthe US refugee admissions program, whichresettledmore than 100,000 refugees including 34,000 Africans in2024.White Afrikaners from South Africaare currently the only category of refugee eligible for resettlement in the US. Federal security forces, including agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have arbitrarily and sometimes violently detained people across the country, includingtargeting Latino, Black, and other communities of color.

Somalis and other Africans were among the targets of the US government’scampaign of terror and intimidationagainst immigrants in Minnesota this past winter, which includedarrests of people with recognized refugeestatus. In August 2025, a South African journalist, at a meeting in Kenya to discuss the World Cup,urgedFIFA president Gianni Infantino “to make sure that Africa and all the other people of the world do not feel outcast, do not feel like they are being made second-class citizens in a world where equality should prevail.” Infantino responded, “Be positive…you will see there will be a great, great celebration of the greatest FIFA World Cup ever.” African journalists, however, from the countries targeted by Trump’s travel bansfacethe same visa restrictions as fans. On June 5, the International Sports Press Associationwroteto FIFA to raise concerns about “countless” and “unacceptable” cases of denied entry visas for reporters, including African journalists specifically.

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FIFA also recently confirmed that Somali refereeOmar Abdulkadir Artan, one ofAfrica’s top referee of 2025, will be “unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026” after he was denied entry to the US. The global football governing body has so far done very little to tackle the impact on fans and workers of the US government’s problematic immigration policies. The US government has said it will waive visa bonds for some ticketholders using FIFA PASS, an expedited visa appointment system for the World Cup ticket holders.

But participation in the program provides no way around other travel bans and visa restrictions. Exceptions to the travel bans provided for World Cup athletes and coaches do not apply to fans or other workers.

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