When it’s all said and done, only one team will get to hoist the FIFA World Cup trophy and be crowned champion. And President Donald Trump will be close by when it happens.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino was a speaker at a Davos Kick-off for FIFA World Cup 2026, which coincides with the World Economic Forum.
Infantino confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump will co-present the World Cup winner’s trophy on July 19.
‘This trophy will be handed out on the 19th of July to the captain of the team who will win the World Cup,’ Infantino said. ‘I will give it together with the President of the United States, the host country. Nobody can touch this trophy.’
It’s a sacred tradition.
Infantino grew up playing football, but his skills didn’t translate as much as his passion did. While he didn’t have an opportunity to reach the World Cup, he found another way to get his hands on the big prize.
‘I decided to become FIFA president so I could finally have the privilege and the honor to touch this magic trophy,’ Infantino said. ‘It’s truly the most iconic trophy in the world of sports. It is truly magic.’
Donald Trump at sports events
Trump isn’t a stranger to trophy presentations. He crashed last year’s shiny hardware delivery during the FIFA Club World Cup after Chelsea’s 3-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain in July.
Recently, he was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, sort of. The award was designated to Venezuelan María Corina Machado for fighting for democracy in ‘the face of ever-expanding authoritarianism in Venezuela,’ according to the Nobel Prize outreach website.
Machado, after meeting with Trump, decided to gift him the peace prize, which the president accepted.
‘I thought it was very nice. She said, ‘you know, you’ve ended eight wars and nobody deserves this prize more than, in history, than you do,’ Trump said. ‘And I thought it was a very nice gesture. And by the way, I think she’s a very fine woman. And we’ll be talking again.’
A month before being gifted the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump was awarded for another peace prize.
Trump was named the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize winner during the World Cup draw in Washington in December.
The award was created in November for ‘to reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.’
Trump accepted the award from Infantino and said it was ‘one of the great honors’ of his life.
‘You definitely deserve the first FIFA peace prize for your action, for what you have obtained – in your way – but you obtained it in an incredible way,’ Infantino said. ‘And you can always count, Mr. President, on my support, on the support of the entire football community, or soccer community to help you make peace and make the world prosper.’
This story has been updated with additional information.
