18 July 2026
Infantino and Trump: A Bargain That Has Stained the Beautiful Game
A US Soccer Federation vice-president writes in The Guardian that Gianni Infantino's pursuit of Donald Trump's favour has deeply damaged football's credibility on its biggest stage.
Nathán Goldberg Crenier, the elected vice-president of the US Soccer Federation, has written a personal opinion piece in The Guardian arguing that FIFA president Gianni Infantino made a damaging political miscalculation by seeking to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump ahead of and during the 2026 World Cup.
Goldberg Crenier writes that Infantino's efforts to secure preferential treatment from the American government predictably ended with FIFA becoming entangled in political controversy rather than insulated from it. He argues that the football president suffered the same fate as others who have sought Trump's favour, with the game's credibility paying a price.
The piece, The Guardian makes clear, represents Goldberg Crenier's personal views and not those of US Soccer. But coming from an elected federation official, it is a pointed public verdict on how politics and football's governing body have collided at this tournament, and what that means for the sport's standing.
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