KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - With three countries hosting more teams than ever before, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is shaping up to be an incredible undertaking.
“To put it in perspective, this will be the largest sporting event in the history of the world,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a Thursday press conference.
Duffy hosted the FIFA 2026 World Cup Summit at the Department of Transportation, one day before the Final Draw event takes place at the Kennedy Center. President Donald Trump is expected to be in attendance.
“As I tell my colleagues, we’re going to have 104 Super Bowls in 39 days simultaneously,” he said, expanding on his team’s work to make the U.S.’s portion of the World Cup safe and “seamless.”
Transportation and safety
“I don’t want to overstate it, but I think we may be more important than the coaches, the refs, maybe the players,” Duffy said.
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He specifically addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s role, acknowledging that flying will be integral to how Americans and the estimated 6 million international visitors travel between matches.
“We are clearing the skies, clearing the decks, making sure air travel is going to be seamless. The FAA is already working on that,” Duffy promised.
He spoke to other ongoing efforts to prepare the U.S. railways and bus systems, before transitioning to an open discussion of human trafficking. He cited New Jersey as a state stepping up to mitigate trafficking through its awareness and prevention campaign.
“When big sporting events like this happen, it is a time when more human trafficking takes place,” Duffy said. “Again, we want to enjoy these games. It’s a great time to celebrate, it’s a great time for countries to rally around their teams. But we also want to make sure that if there are bad things happening, that we’re doing all we can to stop it.”
Transitioning to broader security considerations, Congressman Darin LaHood praised Trump’s appropriation of $625 million for security and $525 million for anti-drone technology in the U.S.’s 11 host cities.
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Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup Task Force, echoed Duffy’s promise of a “seamless” experience and emphasized the overlap of the World Cup and the U.S.’s 250th birthday.
“I really believe the World Cup is the best opportunity for us, as a country, to show the greatness to American exceptionalism in our first 250 years, and then the hope and promise of our next 250 years.”
“Soccer Forward”
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s incoming chief operating officer, Dan Helfrich, shared their hope for the sport’s future.
“What we’re really focused on is what we’re calling Soccer Forward, which is our legacy initiative to make soccer the most played and the most accessible sport in the United States for everyone,” Helfrich explained. “So that everyone can achieve their highest ambition without regard for finance.”
He pointed to the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the 2031 Women’s World Cup as major milestones in the U.S.’s growing global footprint.
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