2026 World Cup: SoFi boss dismisses Trump threat to move games from LA
The boss of the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles says he expects the £4bn venue to play a key role in staging next summer’s 2026 World Cup despite US President Trump threatening to move games from the city.
Trump has raised the prospect of stripping LA, San Francisco and Seattle of their scheduled fixtures if he deems them to be unsafe – a move seen as a shot across the bows of the cities’ Democrat-leaning leadership.
Only the AT&T Stadium in Dallas is slated to stage more World Cup games than the eight at the 70,000-seater SoFi, the world’s most expensive stadium and home to NFL teams the LA Rams and Chargers.
“The politics piece is always very interesting, especially when you’ve got the 11 cities that are here across the United States and [five in] our other host countries in Canada and Mexico,” said Otto Benedict, who runs the SoFi and Hollywood Park.
“And so my comment to that would be: Fifa has a plan. Fifa knows why they picked these states. These states and these cities have been working very closely with the White House [World Cup] task force.
“I think in politics there’s a lot of talk but I believe that what the White House task force is doing and what Fifa is doing is going to be able to deliver the games as they’ve planned.”
Trump floated removing World Cup games from cities run by “radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing” in September, adding that LA’s hosting of the 2028 Olympics was also in jeopardy.
The final decision on next summer’s schedule lies with Fifa and, in practice, changing it now would cause a huge logistical headache given that tickets have already gone on sale, but Trump has a close ally in Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
SoFi final snub could haunt Fifa if storms come
The SoFi, owned by Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, is set to stage five group stage games including two of the USA’s, as well as two matches in the round of 32 and a quarter-final. Other teams playing in LA will be confirmed at next month’s draw in Washington DC.
It staged the Super Bowl in 2022 less than two years after it opened, has secured the NFL’s marquee event in 2027, and has played host to Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones and Beyonce.
Thirteen football fixtures have been held at the Inglewood venue, including the 2025 Concacaf Nations League final.
Despite being the newest and most high-tech stadium, with a stunning halo-shaped LED screen hanging from its roof, and LA hosting the last World Cup final in the US in 1994, it was overlooked for the final in favour of the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“What MetLife does is very similar to us – they are the only other two-team NFL stadium, and they put on just as much content from concerts and special events as we do,” said Benedict, senior vice president of facility and campus operations.
“I think it’s a little different, and that’s when I go back to the challenge of three different time zones and three different climates.
“Out there in New York, that time of the summer, you are susceptible to thunderstorms and things that can delay games, whereas here in California, we have a roof structure over our stadium.
“We are not impacted by weather. So we hope for good weather for everybody. But I know that we’ve got an extra little level of protection over here.”