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President Donald Trump told reporters he will attend Sunday’s Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium.
“I’ll be going to the game,” he said Tuesday.
Trump had previously been invited to the match by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. But his decision came Tuesday after FIFA announced it is opening an office at Trump Tower in New York.
Trump has a close relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. This spring, Infantino accompanied Trump on an official visit to the Middle East instead of attending FIFA’s annual congress. Included in Trump’s domestic policy bill that he signed last week was $625 million to help with security costs for the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will jointly host with Canada and Mexico.
The president hasn’t been totally oblivious to the international club tournament happening on American soil this summer. The task force he commissioned for the 2026 World Cup earlier this year was also designed to aid in hosting this year’s tournament. And Italian side Juventus visited the Oval Office during the group stage in what ended up as an awkward encounter where Trump asked players about transgender women in sports.
The big questions for organizers of the Club World Cup are how the president’s attendance impacts security and media. Security is already one of the biggest expenses when staging a large sporting event, and the president’s attendance only heightens those costs. It also adds a wrinkle for TV producers, both from global streamer DAZN and U.S. carrier TNT Sports, to determine how much they can or should show the president on the broadcast.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl when he watched the Eagles beat the Chiefs in New Orleans. He left the game early in the second half. When asked in February about the additional security costs incurred by the president’s attendance, a spokesperson for the Secret Service deferred to a public records request, which the Department of Homeland Security still has yet to fill.
Sunday’s match will feature Chelsea against the winner of Wednesday afternoon’s semifinal between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. It will be the richest soccer final ever with $40 million awarded to the winner and $30 million to the loser. By securing its spot in the final, Chelsea guaranteed it will walk away with at least $100 million in winnings from the tournament.
MetLife is hosting both semifinals and the final of the Club World Cup, a test run for hosting the World Cup final next year. The venue had struggled with attendance throughout the group stage and ticket prices fell dramatically for Tuesday’s match, perhaps contributing to several Chelsea players’ decision to share ticket links for Tuesday’s match on their Instagram stories. Official attendance for Chelsea’s win on Tuesday came in at 70,556 fans.
