President Donald Trump may have received the FIFA Peace Prize last year, but he just made some moves that could make plans for this summer’s FIFA World Cup more complicated and costlier.
The State Department announced Wednesday that it had frozen processing for immigrant visas from 75 countries. The pause starts January 21 and will continue indefinitely.
Per The Daily Mail, this could significantly complicate travel plans for people coming from around the world to attend the World Cup, in which matches will be hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, Forbes reported that, per the State Department, the pause “will not apply to temporary tourist or business visas,” only to immigration ones.
But that’s not the only move the Trump Administration has made that could affect the tournament. Last week, the U.S. expanded its visa bond requirement to 38 countries, which Forbes predicted would make travel costlier for those coming to the World Cup.
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Of the nations competing in the World Cup, 15 are on the list released this week, including Brazil. The World Cup’s Group C consists of four countries, three of which are on the immigrant visa ban list — Brazil, Morocco, and Haiti – although the fourth country, Scotland, is not.
Good luck to people from these countries trying to go to the World Cup. The US has stopped visa applications
It’s a farce that the US is allowed to still host the World Cup
It’s the WORLD cup, not the USA cup. If you don’t want the WORLD there then you don’t get to host pic.twitter.com/ZAa4KqVms9
— John McAllister (@john_mcal) January 14, 2026
Algeria, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Jordan, Senegal, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan are also countries on the banned list that are competing in the World Cup.
“The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,” the department said in a statement published by the Daily Mail. “Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”
“This administration has proven itself to have the most anti-legal immigration agenda in American history,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, told Forbes. “This action will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to the United States, turning away about 315,000 legal immigrants over the next year alone.”
