When the beautiful game meets ugly politics
For all its grand talk of unity and sporting transcendence, football has once again proved helpless against the crudeness of fascist politics. With the 2026 World Cup having kicked off on Thursday, the Trump administration has reminded us that no amount of Fifa diplomatic handshakes can shield the sport from deliberate, calculated humiliation.
In recent months, as national teams and tournament officials from across the globe — particularly from Africa, South America and the Middle East — began logistical preparations for the expanded 48-team World Cup hosted across the US, Mexico and Canada, the US political atmosphere has worsened.
From visa delays that seem to target specific nationalities to the casual degradation of non-English-speaking nations, the message is unmistakable: you are not welcome and you will not be treated with dignity.
This is not bureaucratic inefficiency. This is racism and xenophobia weaponised by a White House that has spent years normalising the grotesque.
The Trump administration has long understood that cruelty is the point — making visiting footballers from Senegal stand for hours in secondary inspection or forcing the Iranian team to switch their base to Mexico — sending a signal to the domestic Maga base.
The “beautiful game” becomes a stage for crude American politics.
Where is Fifa in all this? Nowhere to be found, or worse, complicit in its silence. Gianni Infantino’s spineless organisation has perfected the art of looking away or issuing a timid statement about “smooth cooperation with host authorities”.
No condemnation. No threat of sanctions. No emergency meeting. It is a staggering display of cowardice.
And yet, amid the grim landscape, we must also turn a critical eye inward. Bafana Bafana produced a limp, disjointed display against Mexico — losing with the kind of passive resignation that has become all too familiar.
For a nation that once celebrated the 2010 World Cup as a triumph of African dignity, watching our boys retreat into defensive shells, surrender possession cheaply and attack without conviction is its own quiet tragedy.
Yes, the Trump administration’s racism is foul. Yes, Fifa’s silence is shameful. But Bafana’s performance against Mexico — slow, fearful and devoid of tactical intelligence — suggests a different kind of loss: the loss of belief. Against a Mexico side that is good but not great, we looked like a team that had accepted defeat before kick-off.
Where does this leave us? Angry at a world that treats African teams as second-class travellers. Angry at a Fifa that profits from that world without defending it. And frustrated at a Bafana that, when the whistle blows, too often plays small.
The World Cup is meant to be a respite from politics — a month of astonishing goals and shared joy. But when host governments weaponise bigotry and football’s governing body looks away, even the pitch becomes a site of struggle.
We must fight that struggle. We must also fight the creeping mediocrity at home. Otherwise, we will be humiliated at the airport and on the scoreboard.
- The 2026 World Cup, hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada, is overshadowed by the Trump administration’s racist and xenophobic policies targeting visiting teams, especially from Africa, South America, and the Middle East.
- Visa delays and humiliating treatment of teams like Senegal and Iran exemplify deliberate political cruelty intended to send a domestic political message.
- FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino have been largely silent or complicit, failing to condemn or address these issues effectively.
- South Africa’s national team, Bafana Bafana, delivered a disappointing, uninspired performance against Mexico, reflecting a loss of confidence and belief on the field.
- The intersection of politicized bigotry, FIFA’s inaction, and the team’s poor play leaves African footballers vulnerable both off and on the pitch, highlighting the need to fight both external discrimination and internal mediocrity.
