Putin Might Attend 2026 FIFA World Cup On US Soil, Kremlin Says

After this summer’s unprecedented Alaska summit between Presidents Trump and Putin, the Kremlin is signaling that the Russian leader could return to American soil once again.

Putin could accept an invitation from Trump to visit the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United State next summer, Moscow’s ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, has said – as cited in state media sources. The ambassador told a British broadcaster that Putin could really attend the World Cup as he seeks to foster “closer links” with Trump.

This next World Cup will mark the first ever time the tournament will be played in three different countries, with the US, Canada and Mexico all hosting games – with the host venue for the final being MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (typically used for NY Giants and Jets games).

Sixteen host cities were announced by FIFA as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Guadalajara, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Monterrey, Mexico City, Toronto, Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Miami.

Trump in a press conference last month programed that Putin “very badly” wants to attend the World Cup. It’s unclear whether that may have been directly expressed by Putin during the August 15 Alaska summit.

“That is a man named Vladimir Putin who I believe will be coming depending on what happens. He may be coming and he may not,” the US president said while displaying a photo of himself and Putin from the prior summit.

As for Russian ambassador Kelin, in his fresh interview he said: “There are different ideas. Earlier… they [Putin and Trump] talked about the possibility of an ice hockey match between US and Russia… and football game as I understand is also at work.”

He was asked by the interviewer to confirm that this was in reference to the FIFA “football tournament” scheduled between June 11 and July 19, 2026 – to which the ambassador replied, “Yes, football tournament. I hope that in the coming contacts we are going to discuss that.”

Pundits on the Left have reacted fiercely to the prospect of Putin attending World Cup play in the US:

Crowd goes crazy for Trump at FIFA World club title soccer match in New Jersey. Other than the WNBA all star game, I’m not sure there’s an American sporting event Trump could attend and get booed. pic.twitter.com/T1rmAdEZ9C

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 13, 2025

It would be somewhat of a ‘shock’ for many Americans, especially Democrats, to look up at the VIP boxes of a large stadium as a World Cup match was underway in a US city to see Presidents Putin and Trump being chummy and enjoying the biggest soccer tournament in the world.