Visa for the World Cup 2026

The World Cup Effect: Infrastructure and Immigration Requirement and Visa Issues

Having the necessary infrastructure in place can be crucial to the success of a large-scale event. And in certain nations, the promises of improved infrastructure and the prospect of greater tourism dollars are significant incentives for filing a bid and garnering the most support from the population.

Stadiums

FIFA specifies 12 stadiums with a minimum capacity between 40,000 and 80,000, depending on the matches played there. Additionally, each team needs its base camp training location and a training site at each stadium. Beginning in 2026, the World Cup will require 14 venues and 150 training grounds.

Transportation

FIFA Requirement: Each stadium must be in close proximity to an airport with a minimum capacity of 1,450 people per hour.

Countries must be able to accommodate the temporary demand rise in airport terminals, passport control and immigration checks, runways, fueling stations, and highways leading to airports in cities across the nation. In certain instances, infrastructure such as terminals are constructed to be ephemeral, as this flow of people is only temporary.

Accommodations

FIFA requires 72 base camp hotels for teams and officials and four hotels per stadium site. Each host city requires 1,760 to 8,080 hotel rooms for spectators, depending on which match will be played there.

Hotels must be able to accommodate the massive flood of domestic and international fans. Brazil brought in six cruise ships with an additional 10,000 rooms to accommodate the demand for hotel rooms. To accomplish this, though, the port had to be renovated, which was a $7 billion endeavour. Qatar constructed a brand-new city with 22 brand-new hotels, transforming an empty desert into a luxury 450,000-person, 38-square-mile metropolis at a cost of $45 billion.

Immigration and Travel Visa guarantees

Referring to immigration and travel guarantees for the 2026 World Cup, a recently released overview document from FIFA states, “In order to meet the needs of the respective groups of individuals, the government is requested to establish a visa-free environment or facilitate existing visa procedures.” Regardless, all visa procedures must be administered without discrimination.”

Trump’s rise to the presidency before his inauguration was fuelled by anti-immigrant prejudice and propaganda. As part of his anti-terrorism efforts, Trump has called for a total ban on Muslim immigration to the United States. As so-called acts of terrorism grew globally, his viewpoint looked to be vindicated.

However, the courts have now halted his executive order aiming to prohibit admission into the US for citizens from numerous Muslim-majority nations.

Despite FIFA’s demands for visa exemptions, the organization’s overview document states: “It is agreed that such ease of entry to the host country/host countries must in no way compromise national immigration and security norms in the host country/host countries.”

In addition, the agreement states: “A bidding country’s government is required to guarantee the issuance of legitimate work permits to all individuals involved in the planning, organization, and hosting of the tournament, without any restrictions or preconditions.”

Equally, “the host nation’s government must grant a general tax exemption to FIFA, the 2026 FWC (FIFA World Cup) Entity, the 2026 FWC Subsidiaries (if applicable), and any other FIFA subsidiary for the period of preparation, delivery, and wrap-up of the Competition, beginning on the date of appointment of the host country/host countries and ending on December 31, 2028,” according to the document.

Following the 2015 corruption scandal that engulfed soccer’s governing body, FIFA has implemented new bidding criteria. As part of the revisions, the most recent rules include commitments to ethics, human rights, transparency, and stadium size and infrastructure requirements.