Nation Could Miss World Cup After Being Listed in Trump's Travel Ban Amid SA, US Govt Controversy

Nation Could Miss World Cup After Being Listed in Trump's Travel Ban Amid SA, US Govt Controversy

  • Donald Trump has proposed a travel ban targeting certain countries and the ban could potentially impact nations participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup
  • The ban has raised concerns regarding international sports relations and the global nature of major tournaments amid SA and US controversy
  • The proposed ban could complicate travel and logistics for teams that qualified for the competition from affected countries

One of the countries expected to make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup could miss out on the competition as they were included in President Donald Trump's proposed travel ban list.

Trump has been making different chances to the immigration policies in the United States since returning to office as the 47th president of the North American country after defeater former vice-president Kamala Harris in the last election.

The US President has also been in a dispute with South Africa after signing an executive order banning foreign assistance to the country over reported race-based discrimination against the white minority while offering refugee status to Afrikaners.

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FIFA threatens to ban African country amid South Africa's player eligibility controversy

Gianni Infantino meets with Donald Trump to present new FIFA Club World Cup official ball.
Gianni Infantino presents US President Donald Trump with the new FIFA Club World Cup official ball in the Oval office of the White House, in Washington, DC. Photo: Jim Watson.
Source: Getty Images

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa rejected Trump and Elon Musk's claims of white citizens being persecuted in Mzansi.

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A nation could miss 2026 World Cup due to a travel ban

According to a report by the New York Times, Trump's administration has come up with a list of 43 nations that could be banned from entering the United States, with African nations dominating the list.

The drafted list include partial or difficult visa suspensions, and full visa bans. Some of the countries on the list are not going to the world cup, the likes of Afghanistan and North Korea.

African countries like; Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic on Congo, all fall under the category of partial ban on the list.

Cameroon are having a good run in their World Cup qualifiers but could suffer a potential travel ban if they qualify for the competition.

Venezuela are also on the list, and they face a full visa ban, which would reportedly impact their chances of playing at the next world cup.

Read also

US Embassy in SA warns South Africans against lying on VISA application form, Mzansi amused

National teams that could be affected by the Donald Trump's travel ban ahead of the World Cup.
Countries that could be affected by Donald Trump's travel ban ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini.
Source: Getty Images

African countries on the partial ban list

Angola

Benin Republic

Burkina Faso

Cape Verde

Cameroon

Chad

Congo DR

Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Gambia

Liberia

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Sao Tome and Principe

Zimbabwe

African countries on full visa ban list

Libya

Somalia

Sudan

The criteria for putting all these countries on different categories on the list is yet to be stated by the United States government.

There are reports claiming that the FIFA president Gianni Infantino has addressed the issue with Trump as they want to work around allowing those on the list to participate in the competition without complications and impediments.

FIFA threatens to ban African country

Briefly News earlier reported that FIFA has threatened to ban an African nation from international football after violating one of the World governing body's rules.

The World Football governing body reportedly sent an official letter to the nation if they fail to comply to their rule.

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Raphael Abiola avatar

Raphael Abiola (Sports editor) Raphael Abiola is a Nigerian Sports Journalist with over seven years of experience. He obtained a B.Tech degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, in 2015. Raphael previously worked as a football editor at Stakegains (2016-2018) and a content editor with Opera News Nigeria (2018-2023). Raphael then worked as an Editor for the Local Desk at Sports Brief (2023-2024). Reach him via email at raphael.abiola@sportsbrief.com.