LONDON
\nFIFA President Gianni Infantino is set to face the media on the eve of the World Cup on Wednesday, as off-field distractions dogged the build-up to the tournament.
\nInfantino is likely to face tough questions about sky-high ticket prices and an immigration crackdown that has seen a top referee, fans and team officials barred from co-hosts the United States.
\nThe head of world football\u2019s governing body will give a rare press conference in Mexico City, where co-hosts Mexico play South Africa on Thursday in the opening match at the EstadioAzteca.
\nThe 2026 men\u2019s World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams and is the biggest and most ambitious in the event\u2019s history, with matches also taking place in Canada.
\nBut the refusal of US immigration authorities to allow Somali referee Omar Artan, one of Africa\u2019s leading match officials, into the country underlined fears that Donald Trump\u2019s immigration policy could leave deep scars on the football extravaganza.
\nArtan said the \u201cbiggest dream of my life\u201d had been ripped away after he was turned back at the US border.
\n\u201cI am very, very disappointed,\u201d Artan told The New York Times.
\n\u201cI\u2019m just simply a referee who\u2019s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.\u201d
\nArtan, who was named the 2025 men\u2019s referee of the year by the Confederation of African Football, would have been the first Somali to officiate at a World Cup.
\nHe said he was subjected to an 11-hour interview with border officials at Miami International Airport and then detained for several further hours in a holding cell before being put on a flight back to Turkey.
\n\u201cI had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa,\u201d he added \u2014 an assertion confirmed to AFP by a Somali government advisor.
\nA US State Department official alleged to AFP that the referee was \u201cassociated with suspected members of terrorist organizations\u201d, therefore \u201cmaking the traveler ineligible for admission to the United States\u201d.
\nArtan returned to a hero\u2019s welcome in Mogadishu and vowed to take part in the next tournament in 2030.
\n\u201cI will be at the next World Cup and will continue to make Somalia proud\u2026 Despite what has happened to me, I am not discouraged,\u201d Artan told more than 100 supporters and journalists at Mogadishu\u2019s main airport.
\nMeanwhile, concerns were rising that the curtainraiser in Mexico City could be disrupted by social unrest.
\nProtesters Tuesday blocked an avenue leading to the EstadioAzteca although lines of police prevented the demonstrators from reaching the stadium.
\nThousands took part in the demonstration following a week of action that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called a \u201cprovocation.\u201d
\nSheinbaum has said that the opening match was \u201cguaranteed,\u201d though the left-leaning leader again ruled out using police to repress the demonstrations.<\/p>\n
Messi sparkles on return
\nOn the pitch, Argentina\u2019s superstar Lionel Messi scored moments after coming off the bench on Tuesday to dispel any injury doubts and help the holders win their final warm-up game.
\nThe 38-year-old Messi had not featured for Argentina in the build-up to their title defence after injuring a hamstring playing for Inter Miami in late May.
\nHe was introduced as a substitute with 20 minutes left to huge acclaim from a capacity 88,000 crowd against Iceland in Auburn, Alabama, and his clever through ball played in LautaroMartinez, who was fouled in the box.
\nMessi, who drove Argentina to their third World Cup crown in Qatar four years ago and is set to feature in his sixth World Cup, lashed in the penalty to help the reigning champions ease to a 3-0 win.
\nArgentina\u2019s first match is on June 16, against Algeria in Kansas City.
\nAlong with Spain, France and England, Argentina are among the favourites to win the title.
\nMessi is set to feature in his sixth World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON FIFA President Gianni Infantino is set to face the media on the eve of the World Cup on Wednesday, as off-field distractions dogged the build-up to the tournament. Infantino is likely to face tough questions about sky-high ticket prices and an immigration crackdown that has seen a top referee, fans and team officials barred …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98920,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98909\/revisions\/98920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}