Earlier this year in June, United States President Donald Trump was over the moon when the United Bid 2026, a consortium of his own country, Canada and Mexico won the rights to host the 2026 World Cup. They had beaten the bid presented by Morocco for the biggest footballing event on the planet.
And over two months after the success, Trump met the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino at the White House. The two giants of their respective fields spoke on various topics, including the importance of the event. Trump even praised Infantino for his work as the President of the biggest organisation in football.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018
ALSO READ: Times Square comes to a halt as bees take over a hot dog stall
During the complete interaction, Infantino presented Trump with a personalized jersey. The FIFA President handed over a No.26 t-shirt, which had Trump’s name on it.
But one instance during the event which caught everyone’s attention was when Infantino informed Trump about the cards in the sport. The FIFA President told the US President that in soccer, ‘there are two types of cards, yellow and red’. He further mentioned that ‘when you want to kick out someone, you show the red card’.
For this, Trump replied by mock-throwing the red card at the press standing there. The fun didn’t just end there, as the US President then lauded Infantino for the idea, saying, “That’s very good. I like that, I like that!”
The bid for 2026 World Cup saw US, Canada and Mexico receive 134 votes, as compared to 65 by Morocco. With this, the 2026 World Cup will become the first ever in the history to be played out in three different countries. In the past, there have been only two occasions when the event has taken place in two countries.
The recent edition of the tournament, World Cup 2018, was played in Russia between June 14 and July 15. The one-month long extravaganza saw breathatking action, which included some brilliant football. It also witnessed the introduction of Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) for the first time in the event’s history.
France came out victorious to lift their second World Cup, beating first-time finalists Croatia 4-2 in the final. Luka Modric was awarded the Golden Ball for his performances, with Kylian Mbappe taking home the Young Player of the Tournament award.