Why calls to boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup are growing in Europe

The tournament, scheduled to be hosted by the United States alongside Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, is increasingly becoming entangled in geopolitical controversy.

Oke Göttlich, a vice-president of the German Football Association (DFB), said Europe should begin a serious conversation about whether participating is still appropriate. “For me, that time has definitely come,” Göttlich told German newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost, urging leaders to “seriously consider and discuss” a boycott.

He compared the current moment to Cold War-era Olympic boycotts, adding, “By my reckoning, the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”

The boycott debate has been fuelled by Trump’s aggressive posturing toward Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Trump has suggested annexing the island and imposed tariffs on European nations that opposed his plans, including Germany.

German MP Jürgen Hardt said the national team might consider skipping the tournament “as a last resort” to bring Trump “to his senses.”

In France, left-wing lawmaker Eric Coquerel also called for the World Cup to be moved out of the US. “Seriously, can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its neighbours, threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law?” Coquerel wrote on X.

Concerns have also been raised over Trump’s immigration crackdown and claims of abuses by federal enforcement agencies. Swiss academic Mark Pieth warned that the political climate does not encourage fans to travel.

“What we are seeing domestically, the marginalisation of political opponents, abuses by immigration services, doesn’t exactly encourage fans to go there,” Pieth said.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has also weighed in, writing on X, “I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup.”

A poll in Germany found 47% of respondents would support a boycott if Trump moved to annex Greenland, while a petition in the Netherlands calling for the Dutch team to boycott the event gathered more than 150,000 signatures. Meanwhile, no European country has announced a formal boycott.