Donald Trump is reportedly set to do at the World Cup final what he already did at the Club World Cup — park himself on stage during the trophy lift and refuse to leave. According to journalist Ben Jacobs, FIFA has agreed to let the US president freely join the winning team during the presentation at MetLife Stadium on July 19.
This isn't protocol. Normally, the FIFA president and the host nation's head of state hand the trophy to the winning captain, then step back and let the players have their moment. Clean, simple, theirs. Trump, apparently, will not be stepping back.
We've seen this before
Chelsea's Club World Cup win in 2025 was the dry run. The Blues beat PSG 3-0 — a dominant performance that deserved its own spotlight — and yet the abiding image was Trump lingering on stage while Reece James and Cole Palmer looked like they weren't entirely sure what was happening. Palmer's expression said it all.
That was a club competition. This is the World Cup final. Whoever lifts that trophy on July 19 will have just won the biggest prize in football, and the moment will be shared — willingly or not — with the sitting US president.
Whether that colours the occasion depends entirely on your perspective. What's not in dispute is that FIFA has signed off on it. Gianni Infantino and Trump have developed a well-documented working relationship, and this is the latest extension of it.
Pochettino carrying the weight
Meanwhile, the man tasked with making sure a home nation is in that final is feeling every ounce of the pressure. Mauricio Pochettino, speaking to FIFA, didn't reach for comfortable platitudes — he was blunt about what this job actually demands.
"The responsibility is enormous," he said. "Because it's a responsibility in which people need to identify with what they see on the field, with what the players produce."
He took charge in September 2024 and has had a bumpy road since, including some difficult results in the March international window. The USA opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in Los Angeles — Trump was absent for that one — but the real test is still to come, and the margin for error when you're the host nation is essentially zero.
Pochettino believes hosting the World Cup changes a country's football permanently. A before-and-after. Whether the after is defined by a trophy run or by Trump photobombing someone else's celebrations is still an open question.
