WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by tariffs — yes, back then, too! — and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors’ longstanding political and economic alliances.
“The unity of the three nations″ was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. “A powerful message,” he called it.
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FILE - FIFA president Gianni Infantino, left, watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
FILE - A giant copy of the trophy is displayed prior to the World Cup group G soccer match between Cameroon and Serbia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Nov. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrives at the FIFA congress on the eve of the opener of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, June 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at a reception celebrating Women's History Month in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Players and fans stand for the U.S. national anthem prior to the first period of 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game between Canada and the United States in Montreal, Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - As fans enter the Boston Garden, a man holds a sign on the sidewalk prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game between the United States and Canada,Feb. 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and President Donald Trump back in office — inciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying tariffs that come, then go, then return, with more promised, including what the Republican calls “ reciprocal tariffs ” starting Wednesday.
It’s hard to know how, exactly, the current geopolitical fissures, made all the more stark every time Trump or those in his administration talk provocatively about making Canada the 51st state, might affect the World Cup, its organization and coordination, fans’ travel plans and more.
“Oh, I think it’s going to make it more exciting,” was Trump’s take during an Oval Office appearance with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last month. “Tension’s a good thing.”
Given that the U.S. also is preparing to welcome the world for FIFA’s Club World Cup in June, golf’s Ryder Cup in September and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the question becomes: Will the world want to come?
And, taking Trump's border and visa policies into account, will the world be able to?
Alan Rothenberg, who ran the 1994 World Cup and successfully oversaw the bid to host the 1999 Women’s World Cup as then-president of U.S. Soccer, thinks the answers to those questions are “Yes.” Pointing to concerns about the last two World Cups, in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, he noted those still attracted attendance totals above 3 million apiece.
“People love the United States around the world — frankly, we wouldn’t have the immigration issue that we’re dealing with if that weren’t the case — so a lot of this is government-to-government,” Rothenberg said. “A passionate soccer fan is not going to be held up by that.”
He doesn’t think one of the host nations would drop out of the World Cup, say, or that other countries might boycott, as happened at the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics.
“More than anything, they’ll see it as an opportunity for, perhaps, rapprochement, rather than escalating the tensions,” Rothenberg said.
“Besides, from an organizing standpoint, if either Canada or Mexico withdrew" from the World Cup, he said, "the U.S. would pick up the games in a heartbeat.”
Still, as the White House stance on tariffs and Russia’s war in Ukraine have put Europe on edge, and relations with other countries have become fraught, it might not be a surprise if soccer stadiums for the U.S. games at the World Cup offer the same sort of anti-American sentiment heard when spectators in Canada booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment, but Infantino has never hidden his admiration for Trump, which he often demonstrates via social media. They have met at least five times since the U.S. election in November.
Last week, when Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee — becoming the first woman in that position — she was asked how she would work with Trump and what she would tell athletes about traveling to the U.S. for the next Games.
“I have been dealing with, let’s say, difficult men, in high positions since I was 20 years old," Coventry said with a chuckle, "and first and foremost, what I have learned is that communication will be key. That is something that will happen early on. And my firm belief is that President Trump is a huge lover of sports. He will want these Games to be significant. He will want them to be a success."
Referring to concerns about whether the administration might deny some athletes visas, she added: "We will not waver from our values … of solidarity in ensuring that every athlete that qualifies for the Olympic Games has the possibility to attend the Olympic Games and be safe during the Olympic Games.”
The overriding assumption among those involved in the Olympics is that Trump will assure the 2028 Games are a success.
As U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chairman Gene Sykes put it: “I can’t speak for him, but I think he’s the kind of person who probably believes that having these go very, very well is a reflection of his leadership.”
“The most likely outcome is that Trump’s nonsense won’t have an impact," said Smith College professor Andrew Zimbalist, an expert on the economics of sports.
“My guess is that if relations between Canada and the U.S. deteriorate to the point that there are travel restrictions and spending restrictions," Zimbalist said, "Trump would — just like he’s making exceptions all the time on his tariffs policies — make an exception for a month or six weeks.”
The U.S. and Canadian soccer federations declined AP requests for comment on how White House policies might affect the 2026 World Cup.
Gabriela Cuevas, who represents Mexico’s government in meetings with FIFA, said she considers the tariffs and the soccer event “separate issues,” adding that she believes “the World Cup could be a route to engage in a conversation.”
Observers tend to agree, saying logistics such as security cooperation or team transportation from city to city — or country to country — should not be hampered when it comes to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
The borders might become an issue, though.
“The main thing FIFA needs to move for this event is not car parts, and it’s not wheat, and it’s not electricity. It’s people. That’s your real concern,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
“What were previously pretty reasonable border crossings could become much more challenging, simply because both sides amp up their level of inspections and the United States, in particular, cuts down government services that allow people to move effectively between countries.”
As for the fans, 29-year-old Mexican businessman German Camacho Pacheco said “soccer is religion” in his country, so when it comes to the World Cup, “I don’t think they care about tariffs.”
Camacho, wearing the Monterrey club jersey of defender Sergio Ramos while on the way to watch a game at a sports bar in Mexico City, said he doesn’t expect there to be any effect at all on the World Cup “unless this goes from a trade war to an actual war.”
AP writers Greg Beacham in Inglewood, California; Nancy Benac in Washington; Ronald Blum in New York; Graham Dunbar in Costa Navarino, Greece; Eddie Pells in Denver; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon, and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed.
FILE - FIFA president Gianni Infantino, left, watches as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
FILE - A giant copy of the trophy is displayed prior to the World Cup group G soccer match between Cameroon and Serbia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Nov. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrives at the FIFA congress on the eve of the opener of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, June 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at a reception celebrating Women's History Month in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Players and fans stand for the U.S. national anthem prior to the first period of 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game between Canada and the United States in Montreal, Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - As fans enter the Boston Garden, a man holds a sign on the sidewalk prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game between the United States and Canada,Feb. 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Torrential rains and flash flooding battered parts of the Midwest and South on Friday, killing a boy in Kentucky who was swept away as he walked to a school bus stop. Many communities were left reeling from tornadoes that destroyed whole neighborhoods and killed at least seven people earlier this week.
Forecasters warned of potentially catastrophic weather, with round after round of heavy rains expected in the central U.S. through Saturday. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lined up like freight trains over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the national Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
In Kentucky early Friday, a boy died after floodwaters swept him away while he was walking to a school bus stop in Frankfort, Gov. Andy Beshear said on social media.
The dousing inundated Kentucky highways, causing numerous road closures. A mudslide on a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville caused a long traffic backup as crews worked to clear the road. The downtown area of Hopkinsville — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Nashville — was submerged. Water rescues were underway.
“The main arteries through Hopkinsville are probably 2 feet under water,” said Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam. “So the mayor has closed downtown down for all traffic. Our office is actually in the middle of it and we were here before the water rose. So there’s only one way we could get out.”
Tony Kirves and a group of friends used sandbags and a vacuum as they tried to hold back rising floodwaters that covered the basement and seeped into the ground floor of his photography business in Hopkinsville. He said the downtown area was "like a lake."
“We’re holding ground,” he said. “We’re trying to maintain and keep it out the best we can."
A corridor from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri, which has a population of about 2.3 million, could see clusters of severe thunderstorms late Friday. The National Weather Service’s Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center warned of the potential for intense tornadoes and large hail.
The seven people killed in the initial wave of storms that spawned powerful tornadoes on Wednesday and early Thursday were in Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. They included Garry Moore, chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District in Missouri. He died while likely trying to help a stranded motorist, according to Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Clark Parrott.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said entire neighborhoods in the hard-hit town of Selmer were “completely wiped out” and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued.
With flattened homes behind him, Dakota Woods described seeing the twister come through Selmer.
“I was walking down the street,” Woods said Thursday. “Next thing you know, I look up, the sky is getting black and blacker, and it’s lighting up green lights, and it’s making a formation of a twister or tornado.”
Heavy rains were expected to continue in parts of Missouri, Kentucky and elsewhere in the coming days and could produce dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping away cars.
In Hopkinsville, 5 to 8 inches of rain (12.7 centimeters to 20 centimeters) had fallen by Thursday morning, causing the Little River to surge over its banks.
A pet boarding business was under water, forcing rescuers to move dozens of dogs to a local animal shelter, said Gilliam, the county executive. On Friday morning, crews had already rescued people from four or five vehicles and multiple homes, mostly by boat to evacuate people, said Randy Graham, the emergency management director in Christian County.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen downtown,” Gilliam said.
Kentucky’s road conditions website showed scores of state roads closed by high water on Friday morning. A landslide closed a nearly 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) stretch of Mary Ingles Highway in northern Kentucky early Friday, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. A landslide closed the same section of road in 2019 and it reopened last year, WLWT-TV reports.
Flash flooding is particularly worrisome in rural Kentucky where water can rush off the mountains into the hollows. Less than four years ago, dozens died in flooding across eastern Kentucky.
Extreme flooding across the corridor that includes Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis — which have major cargo hubs — could also lead to shipping and supply chain delays, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
Homes were ripped to their foundations in Selmer, Tennessee, which was hit by a tornado with winds estimated up to 160 mph (257 kph), according to the weather service.
Tennessee Highway Patrol video showed lightning illuminating the sky as first responders scoured the ruins of a home, looking for anyone trapped.
In neighboring Arkansas, a tornado near Blytheville lofted debris at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers) high, according to weather service meteorologist Chelly Amin. The state’s emergency management office reported damage in 22 counties from tornadoes, wind, hail and flash flooding.
The home where Danny Qualls spent his childhood but no longer lives was flattened by a tornado in northeast Arkansas.
“My husband has been extremely tearful and emotional, but he also knows that we have to do the work,” Rhonda Qualls said. “He was in shock last night, cried himself to sleep.”
Workers on bulldozers cleared rubble along the highway that crosses through Lake City, where a tornado with winds of 150 mph (241 kph) sheared roofs off homes, collapsed brick walls and tossed cars into trees.
Mississippi's governor said at least 60 homes were damaged. And in far western Kentucky, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport, according to the emergency management office in Ballard County.
Walker IV reported from Selmer, Tennessee, and Schreiner reported from Shelbyville, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.
Caution tape is placed in MacGregor Park on the banks of the Cumberland River in Clarksville Tenn., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
John Milt places sandbags in preparation for flooding near the banks of the Cumberland River in Clarksville Tenn., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Caution tape is placed in MacGregor Park on the banks of the Cumberland River in Clarksville Tenn., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Workers clear landslide debris, caused by heavy rains overnight, from Mary Ingles Highway, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Newport, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Workers clear landslide debris, caused by heavy rains overnight, from Mary Ingles Highway, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Newport, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Workers clear landslide debris, caused by heavy rains overnight, from Mary Ingles Highway, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Newport, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Flood waters cover the entryway to the Weather Stone subdivision off Russellville Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Flood waters cover the entryway to the Weather Stone subdivision off Russellville Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
A car sits in a flooded ditch on the corner of Sumpter Avenue and Normal Street in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Vehicles travel through water covering Russellville Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Vehicles travel through water covering Russellville Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Signs at Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., stand in flooded waters on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
A stranded car sits in a flooded ditch on the off-ramp of I-165 to Russellville Road in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Flood waters cover the driveways of a set of homes on the corner of Sumpter Avenue and Normal Street in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, April 4, 2025, after excessive rainfall Thursday into Friday drenched southcentral Kentucky with more than four and a half inches of rain. (Grace McDowell /Daily News via AP)
Floodwaters rise in downtown Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Floodwaters rise in downtown Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Josh Brashears walks though a flooded street in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Brandon Sanderson, left, Josh Brashears set up sandbags after flooding in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Cars sit in a flooded street in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The streets are flooded in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tony Kirves prepares for flooding inside this photography studio in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tony Kirves prepares for flooding inside this photography studio in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tony Kirves prepares for flooding inside this photography studio in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A person rides a bike in a flooded street in Hopkinsville, Ky., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People clean up a damaged warehouse after severe weather passed the area in Carmel, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Family and friends begin picking up whats left of a house that was ripped off it's foundation and thrown over 75 feet away along Tippah County Rd. 122 in the Three Forks Community near Walnut Miss., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
A piece of home decor rests inside a claw foot bathtub that was thrown from it's house along Tippah County Rd. 122 in the Three Forks Community near Walnut Miss., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
People look over the debris around a home at Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Willy Barns gathers cloths at his house after severe weather passed the area in Selmer, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Jamar Atkins helps to clean up a house after severe weather passed through Selmer, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Dana Hardin, a 25-year former employee of Gordon-Hardy, which was destroyed, looks on near the debris of the KEP Electric building after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Lauren Fraser picks up paperwork in the damaged second floor offices of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Mike Davis moves debris from a damaged business in the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A specialty distributors building is in ruins after severe weather passed through an industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
William Fraser takes photographs inside the warehouse of a damaged building of Specialty Distributors after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A storm damaged home is seen Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People remove items from a business damaged in the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
In an aerial view, damaged structures are seen at the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Storm damaged homes and broken trees are seen Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., speaks about the storm damage during news conference Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Debris and goods are removed from damaged businesses in the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
People remove debris from a damaged business in the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A home is in ruins after severe weather passed through Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
A shipping and receiving bay door is damaged along with the interior of the Gordon-Hardy building after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
In an aerial view the interior of a damaged business is seen at the Triad Building, a business plaza, after severe weather passed through on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Daniel Fraser carries a computer in the damaged second floor offices of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A storm damaged home is seen Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Gov. Bill Lee speaks about the storm damage during a news conference Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Storm damaged homes are seen Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Selmer, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The interior of the destroyed Gordon-Hardy building after a severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
