Rising Opposition to the 2026 World Cup
In Los Angeles and a handful of other host cities, a loose coalition of grassroots organizers is mounting a coordinated challenge to the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, arguing that the tournament will deepen housing insecurity, accelerate gentrification and bring a wave of policing that disproportionately targets marginalized neighborhoods.
At the center of the Los Angeles effort is the People’s Football Club, a nonprofit that stages community matches to draw working‑class residents into anti‑FIFA activism. The group works alongside NOlympics LA, Pivot Legal Society and the Chinatown International District Coalition, as well as activists Eric Sheehan, Laura Macintyre, Tyeshia Redden, Benton Oliver and Em, each contributing legal, community‑organizing and grassroots expertise.
Eight of the 104 World Cup games are slated for SoFi Stadium, yet exorbitant ticket prices have kept many local fans from attending matches in their own city, a reality that organizers say underscores the event’s exclusionary economics.
Critics also point to FIFA’s reliance on technology partners that work with the Department of Homeland Security, and to a recent Amnesty International report warning of likely human‑rights crises, including forced displacements and crackdowns on protest. The organization has urged host cities to produce human‑rights risk assessments, but many municipalities missed the deadline, prompting skepticism about the process’s effectiveness.
The controversy extends beyond the tournament itself. FIFA awarded President Donald Trump its inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize,” a move decried by rights groups as a political gesture, while Vancouver’s pre‑World Cup “beautification” drives have sparked fears of displacement reminiscent of the 2010 Olympics. In Seattle, a $32 million budget for six matches is being spent largely on amenities for FIFA passholders, not on community benefits.
The pattern is not new. The 2014 Brazil World Cup and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics both triggered sweeping displacements, with the latter’s security surge criminalizing Black and Latinx youth in South LA and the construction of SoFi Stadium accelerating the removal of long‑standing Black and Latinx residents from Inglewood.
Activists in Mexico City have taken to the streets to protest the global tournament, citing rising living costs and gentrification pressures, while the upcoming FIFA Congress in Vancouver faces opposition from local groups worried about similar outcomes. The People’s Football Club says it will continue to work with the Palestinian Youth Movement, the trans community and residents in Gaza, framing football as a tool for broader social‑justice struggles. Victor Quintero, a leading voice in the movement, has called FIFA “a symptom of capitalism” and argued that “football belongs to the people.”