Trump, Kushner and the 2026 World Cup bid. Plus: Who’s feeling pressure in PL title race?

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It’s all about the White House in the United States. Read on for details of the Oval Office’s role in securing football’s greatest show.

U.S. election and the World Cup

World of politics

Little in the United States compares to election fever, and the country is talking about nothing else as tomorrow’s presidential count looms — but FIFA hopes World Cup fever will spread far and wide by 2026.

The next 48 hours will decide who holds the office of U.S. president when it co-hosts the next World Cup — Donald Trump or Kamala Harris — and there was a striking aspect of Adam Crafton’s investigation today into how the bid was won: nobody involved saw a scenario in which Trump occupied the White House in 2026.

A short recap first: the ‘United’ bid, as it came to be known, was the joint and successful pitch for the 2026 tournament put together by America, Mexico and Canada. Its nomination was secured with votes from 134 FIFA members, ahead of Morocco on 65.

The decision from FIFA came on Trump’s watch in 2018, 18 months into his presidency. Some of his rhetoric — for example, his vow to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make Mexico foot the bill — was viewed in certain quarters as a potential obstacle to winning the bid.

In mitigation, it was pointed out that even if Trump served two consecutive terms in office (the maximum a U.S. president can remain in power for), he would not occupy the White House in 2026. It didn’t occur that Trump might lose in 2020, run again in 2024 and conceivably hold the presidency during the World Cup.

As one source told Adam about the pervading attitude in 2018: “‘Trump’s almost certainly not going to be president eight years from now’ was the view.” We’ll know very soon.

How it works

Adam’s feature about the ‘United’ proposal shines a light on just how political World Cup bids have become. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Political support for any bid is crucial — in terms of optics and making sure that players, officials and fans from competing countries can secure access to visas and so on.

Trump writing to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and confirming that access to the U.S. would not be restricted was viewed as important. Among the countries whom Trump had sought to limit travel from was Iran, who have qualified for the past three World Cups.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, became a key White House contact while the 2026 bidding was underway. He later played a part in ensuring the final was awarded to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution, was previously close to Trump and threw his weight behind the ‘United’ proposal too.

It’s fascinating to read how people within the ‘United’ bid sought to downplay Trump’s more inflammatory comments and deflect attention from him. All and sundry guessed he would not be front and centre when the World Cup came around. But the hours and days ahead will decide.

The Making Of Amorim

(Gualter Fatia/Getty Images; images courtesy of the Amorim family and Bruno Simao; design: Eamonn Dalton)

Friday afternoon (not long after TAFC landed) brought official news: Ruben Amorim is the new Manchester United boss. He starts on November 11, after a brief notice period at Sporting Lisbon.

One of Amorim’s first challenges, judging by Laurie Whitwell’s big read on his appointment, will be switching United from a four-man defence to three at the back. He’s used a back three in every single one of his games at Sporting — not what United’s squad was built for. Caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy used a four in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

Charlotte Harpur has been in Portugal for The Athletic, producing this ace backgrounder on Amorim. There has to be a metaphor somewhere in his father (pictured below) cutting keys for a living because Amorim’s new job is entirely about unlocking United. A warning to the dressing room: given he was ready to bomb a long-time friend out of the squad at the first club he coached, he won’t take prisoners in Manchester. Buckle up.

Big weekend in the title race

Who is feeling the pressure?

There’s a definite weight on the shoulders of Manchester City and Arsenal. It’s the title or bust for them (bust in the sense of there being no positivity from second place or worse) and it shows.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are having fun. Arne Slot has properly moved in. Mohamed Salah is on fire. They’re two points clear in the Premier League.

That’s a seven-point lead on Arsenal, who are categorically not having fun. Previously unbeaten in away league games in 2024, they’ve now lost their last two — including a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday. Mikel Arteta might have to start being a bit less risk-averse.

As for City, we cautioned last week about counting chickens while they were top of the division. They’re down on numbers. Their defence looks iffy. They got turned over by Bournemouth, whose coach Andoni Iraola might just come into the reckoning if Pep Guardiola leaves next year. The more I see of Iraola’s football, the more I like.

Forest roll back the years

Nottingham Forest were big on the European scene back when the European Cup was the league of champions — as opposed to the Champions League, where trundling in fifth in a domestic division can earn a club a ticket to ride.

Winners in 1979 and 1980, their years have been more fallow since. Among the many things we didn’t foresee this season was Forest sitting third in the Premier League after 10 games.

Whether they stick and become contenders for Champions League qualification is a moot point, but their prominence is interesting — and their performances merit their ranking.

They’ve been criticised for what many regarded as a fast and loose recruitment policy. They were criticised for sacking the popular Steve Cooper, who made way for Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach. Owner Evangelos Marinakis adds to the on-the-edge hue at the City Ground. But fair’s fair — they have found their groove.

Around The Athletic FC

XANDE SILVA DID 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. WE’RE GOING TO GAME 3.#UniteThe404 x #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/aI9v9fjvMN

— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) November 3, 2024

• Let’s not crown Inter Miami as MLS Cup winners quite yet. A 2-1 defeat to Atlanta United — inflicted by Xande Silva’s 95th-minute beauty (above) — leaves their three-match round one play-off in the balance at one win a piece, with the decider to come on Saturday.
• New York Red Bulls are into the Conference semi-finals. They beat last year’s winners, Columbus Crew. LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Minnesota United have also advanced.
• Ex-Real Madrid star Marcelo was about to be substituted on for Fluminense during a Brazilian league match against Gremio. A row broke out between him and coach Mano Menezes on the touchline. Marcelo went back to the bench. Within hours, the defender’s contract was terminated. High drama.
• It has been a desperately tragic week in Spain, which made for a very sombre round in La Liga. Dermot Corrigan found a division struggling to keep its focus on football.
• Most clicked in Friday’s TAFC: Liverpool attacking the ticket touts.

Quiz answer

How did you go with naming the 11 English clubs who have had a player finish in the top three of the Ballon d’Or?

They were (and fair play if you nailed answer number one): Blackpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. We’ve listed the players and years for you here.

Catch a match (times ET/UK)

Premier League: Fulham vs Brentford, 3pm/8pm — USA Network, Fubo/Sky Sports.

Serie A: Empoli vs Como, 12.30pm/5.30pm, Lazio vs Cagliari, 2.45pm/7.45pm — both CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime/OneFootball.

And finally (knee-slide special)…

Convention has it that players are supposed to tone down their celebrations — or even park them completely — when they score against their old clubs. It’s all a bit soft but very much the done thing.

On Friday, Aidan Keena, a striker with St Patrick’s Athletic in Ireland, bagged away at Sligo Rovers, a team he played for between 2022 and 2023. He put his euphoria on hold… for a few seconds, before breaking into this pulsating knee slide. A pleasure to watch a wind-up merchant at work.

The Saints consolidate their European spot as Aidan Keena opens the scoring on his old stomping ground!#LOITV | #SLIPAT pic.twitter.com/OeO0s1NDUk

— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) November 1, 2024

Wind-up-merchanting is in Jose Mourinho’s wheelhouse but he could do with a lesson in knee slides from Kenna after this effort yesterday. We’ll let him off. A 102nd-minute winner for Fenerbahce against Trabzonspor would have the best of us losing it — which Mourinho then did, in his post-match comments…

🟡🔵 Fenerbahçe Teknik Direktörü Jose Mourinho’nun galibiyet golünün ardından yaşadığı sevinç! | #TSvFB #beINSPORTS pic.twitter.com/pkv2KBwMkX

— beIN SPORTS Türkiye (@beINSPORTS_TR) November 3, 2024

(Top photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)