From FIFA World Cup 2022 to FIFA World Cup 2026: A Legacy in Motion

We'd like to invite our distinguished speakers to the front for an official group photo as we get underway tonight.
Please welcome Her Ecellncy Miss Aliyahmed Bin Say Foltani, the permanent representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations.
His Excellency, Mr.
Mike Waltz, the US Representative to the United Nations.
His Excellency, Mr.
Hector Vasconcelos, the Mexico Representative to the United Nations.
His Ecellncy Mr.
Johnny Infantino, President of FIFA.
His Excellency, Mr.
Hasan Al Towati, the Managing Director of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy for Qatar 2022.
His Excellency, Mr.
Andrew Giuliani, the Executive Director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 of the United States.
Her Excellency, miss Gabriella Cuevas, Mexican Federal Government coordinator for the FIFA World Cup 2026, and His Ecellency Mr.
Adam Vanoverden, Canada Secretary of State for Sport, and Canada's FFA Srpa.
Thank you.
Everyone up to the front.
I Thank you so much.
Good evening Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Andrew Luria.
I'm a news and sports broadcaster at Fox five, San Diego in California.
It's a great honor to serve as your master of ceremonies this evening.
Thank you all for joining us for this high level reception from FIFA World Cup 2022 to FIFA World Cup 2026, a Legacy in Motion.
Let me begin by thanking our hosts, the permanent mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations for bringing together member states, the UN, FIFA, and the global football community here in this historic setting.
Tonight, we gather for a celebration, a handoff, and a countdown.
We celebrate the unique power of football to bring people and nations together, and we reflect on how the legacy of the FIFO World Cup continues to evolve from one tournament to the next, leaving a lasting impact across continents and communities around the world.
We begin with Qatar 2022, the first FIFA World Cup ever held in the Arab World and the Middle East.
It was a tournament that carried the World Cup into a new region, opened new doors of cultural connection, and helped redefine how a World Cup can be delivered in the 21st century.
Through its compact model, its focus on sustainability and innovation, its emphasis on human connection and legacy, Quitar demonstrated that the World Cup can be much more than a sporting event, leaving an impact that extends far beyond the pitch, and with kickoff now just 20 days away, we turn our attention to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the biggest tournament in football history with 48 teams for the first time and hosted by three countries for the first time as well.
As we gather ahead of W Football Day, tonight's theme feels especially fitting, a legacy in motion from Qatar 2022 to North America 2026 and from one historic chapter to the next.
We're honored to have with us high level dignitaries from Qatar, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and FIFA to share how legacy is shaping this vision for this exciting and fast approaching World Cup.
In 2022, nearly 5 billion people around the world engaged with the tournament and close to 1.5 billion watched the final.
When the World Cup begins, the world shares a moment, and in 20 days, we're going to do it all together once again.
With that, we begin our program.
It's my honor to introduce our host this evening.
Her Excellency, Ambassador Alia Ahmed Bin Saif Al Thani, the permanent representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations.
Ambassador Al Thani first of all, thank you so much for hosting all of us here at the UN this evening and for your longstanding advocacy for sport as a catalyst for peace, inclusion, and youth empowerment.
Qatar helped carry the World Cup into a new region.
Tonight, it helps carry that legacy forward into a new chapter.
Excellency, it's an honor to invite you to deliver your welcoming remarks.
Thank you so much, Andrew, and Excellencies, Dear colleagues, friends, I would like to welcome you all to this high level reception on Word Football Day held under the theme from FIFA World Cup 2022 to FIFA World Cup 2026, legacy in motion.
Let me begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to my friend Ambassador Mike Waltz, United States Representative to the United Nations for his presence this evening and for joining me on this very special occasion.
Thank you so much, Mike.
I also wish to extend my very warm welcome to our distinguished high level dignitaries, His Excecy, Mr.
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA.
His Excellency, Mr.
Hassan the Dawi Managing Director of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
His Excellency, Mr.
Andrew Gioriani, Executive Director of the White House Task Force for the FIFA World Cup 2026 of the United States, and my sister, Her Excellency, Gabriela Cues representative of Mexico to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and His Ececy Mr.
Adam Van C Vden, Secretary of State for port, and FFA Chara of Canada.
Tonight is a celebration not only of football but of the values that makes it one of the world's most powerful forces for bringing people together.
For the state of Qatar, hosting the FIF World Cup Qatar 2022, the first tournament ever held in the Middle East and the Arab world was a moment of eminence pride for our country and for the wider region.
The tournament achieved unprecedented global reach and set new benchmarks in many areas.
It became a powerful platform for human connection, mutual understanding where people of all races, faiths, and cultures, and nationalities came together in celebration not only of football but also of our shared humanity.
Qatar 2022 also helped redefine what a FIFA World Cup can look like in the 21st century through its compact and sustainable model, advanced infrastructure, major investments in sustainable public transportation, and strong emphasis on accessibility, sustainability, and innovation.
And connectivity.
Qatar introduced a new approach to hosting mega global sporting events, one designed around long term impact well beyond the final match.
Qatar 2022 also demonstrated that an event of the highest global scale and complexity can remain deeply rooted in cultural identity and tradition while welcoming the entire world.
As His Highness, Chef Temin Binhad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, remarked at the conclusion of the tournament in Doha in 2022, and I quote, We fulfilled our promise to organize an exceptional tournament in an Arab country, providing an opportunity for people around the world to discover the richness of our culture and values, end of quote.
Dear colleagues, dear friends, tonight, we also celebrate how the legacy of the FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022, now continues into the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The first edition of the tournament to feature 48 teams and to be hosted across three countries.
We are especially pleased to welcome among us, those, of course, helping leading the preparations, what promises to be another historic FIFA World Cup.
Many of these themes and experiences will be reflected in the World Cup Legacy moment, a special video production on the United Nations wall behind us.
I very much hope you stick around and enjoy it later in this memorable reception, and I thank you.
Thank you, Ambassador Altani, for those inspiring words.
And once again, thank you for this wonderful evening as we celebrate the enduring legacy and the unifying spirit of the FiFful World Cup.
Now, it's my great pleasure to welcome my fellow American, His Excellency Ambassador Michael G.
Waltz, the US Representative to the United Nations, who will join Ambassador Altani this evening in delivering opening remarks.
As an American, I can tell you that this is tremendous as far as excitement goes across the country, as we prepare to welcome in the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside our friends from Mexico and from Canada as well.
With matches across 11 US host cities, including the final right here in the New York, New Jersey region, anticipation is building for an unforgettable and global celebration of football.
Ambassor Walt, it's an honor to welcome you.
Alia, thank you.
Thank you for putting this on.
This is what I call sports diplomacy.
What I love about, I was just talking with Gianni, what I love about it is how it brings people together.
We are in a place here where we talk a lot about what divides us.
We talk a lot about what I is very unfortunate in terms of war and peace and famine and humanitarian needs.
But we're not talking about all of that tonight.
Tonight, we're talking about the future.
What I especially love is that growing up I didn't play soccer as we call it.
By the way, just as a Just as an aside, I have my team look up, where did soccer come from? Why are we still calling it soccer in case you didn't know, in the United Kingdom, in the 19th century, it was called association football.
Then that was shortened to association.
A American football really took off here, the association turned to soccer and we stuck with it.
I don't know why.
Bear with me.
I didn't grow up playing soccer, but what's so amazing is my daughter did, and She, like so many of you and so many of us here in the United States, really have learned to love this sport through our children's eyes.
I watched her as she learned leadership and teamwork and followership and discipline, and we pushed her out there in the rain because a lot of basketball, a lot of American sports are indoors, not soccer.
No matter what the weather was, even cold days like today, she was out there and she learned to compete and to win and lose and all of those great things you learn from this beautiful um, port.
Now, of course, I did my part as a dad by telling her everything she should or shouldn't do from the sidelines, right, even though I'd never really played.
Look, the other thing I love about it is we can play it in the biggest stadiums in the world.
We can play under those huge lights with Johnny, how many people watching? 1 billion.
Five, 6 billion people watching.
Or you could play it in a patch of grass on the beach in Florida where I'm from, dirt lot in Central Africa.
A, by the way, my one claim to fame is I scored a goal in Niger, as we were there doing a military exercise against the Nigerian Army team.
Now, it was a corner kick that bounced off my hip and just happened to go in, but that's okay.
I'm taking credit for it as a claim to fame.
But we've all seen the ball might be half flat, you may have nothing but a couple of rocks as a goal.
But all of those life lessons that I saw my daughter grow up with kids are learning all over the world.
And so as someone who served in Afghanistan and Africa and Latin America, those kids literally didn't have much.
Many times they didn't have shoes.
They made the ball out of string and yarn and whatever they could cobble together.
But we just have to appreciate despite all of their hardships, they had the love of football.
They had the love of soccer.
Again, here at the UN, we spend our days talking about what divides the world and how we can bring people back to a place of peace.
But sometimes it's just those simple things, a ball, a field, a team, a crowd.
That can bring people together.
Gianni, what you're doing can bring people together more than 100 UN resolutions.
So That's what Cutter reminded people and reminded the world in 2022 when it hosted the first World Cup ever in the Middle East.
Then next month, it's coming to North America.
And here's the other thing that I'm so excited about as an American.
They're not just coming to New York, they're not just coming to Washington, DC, they're not just coming to LA.
They're going to get to see Boston and Atlanta.
They're going to get to see Philly and Houston and Dallas and Miami.
Miami, the great state of Florida and Seattle and yes, even New Jersey.
I'm just giving them a little bit of a hard time.
But they're going to get to see small town, middle town America and Kansas and those Americans will get to experience the rest of the world like a cosmopolitan city like New York often does.
It's really exciting.
You're going to get to all kinds of barbecue and all of the diversity that the United States brings that you often don't get to see in places like we are today.
So the other piece is that you're going to get to see the workers who build the stadiums, clean the stadiums, secure the stadiums, the taxi drivers, the vendors, and the restaurant workers, and the first responders and they will get to see all of the rest of the world.
And that's the America that I grew up, that blue collar country as we call it, that gets up early, works hard, waves the flag, and welcomes guests from all over the world because we are a melting pot of the rest of the world.
And Just two years later, the world's going to come back to the United States for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics Games.
To our friends in Qatar, we took notes in terms of your hospitality.
It's going to be hard to beat, Andrew, on that leading the task force there.
But at the end of the day, under President Trump's leadership, We are confident that the millions of fans traveling here this June will meet a country that is confident, that is safe, that is strong, that is generous, that is proud, and is absolutely welcoming.
So tonight we're celebrating Cuter's legacy, and we celebrate the simple, stubborn, joyful truth that even in a divided world, millions of people can still stop and look at the same field and hold their breath in that same moment and watch the most beautiful game and cheer and be happy and have that joy when your team representing your country scores that goal.
So this year, it truly is an honor that North America gets to experience that, that you get to experience all of us, and I'll just say Go Team USA.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Ambassador Waltz, for your inspiring words.
Congratulations on your legendary goal, hopefully a sign of things for the US national team.
We wish the United States success, of course, as it prepares to welcome millions of fans from around the world.
And before we move on to our distinguished high level speakers, we do invite you to enjoy a special short film from FIFA, a reminder of the extraordinary power of the FIFA World Cup to unite people, cultures, and nations across the globe.
So Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the presentation to these screens on your left.
Legacy.
It isn't just what's left behind.
It's what moves the game forward.
It shows us what is possible.
The World Cup Qatar 2022 raised the bar.
It changed the way the world sees the region and the game, and it inspired billions.
Now we build on this groundbreaking event as we embark on the next chapter of the FIFA World Cup.
In 2026, across three countries, 16 host cities, and featuring 48 teams, we will witness a tournament that will honor the past and create a new future because legacy is proof proof that the game never stands still.
A powerful reminder of what football can do.
It can inspire, connect, and bring the world together.
Now it's my pleasure to introduce one of the most recognized leaders in the world in sports.
His excellency, Mr.
Johnny Fantino, the President of FIFA President Fino has often emphasized that football goes beyond competition and through FIFA's global initiatives and partnerships champion its ability to promote youth empowerment, sustainability, inclusion, and international cooperation.
President Fantino, it's an honor and welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Hello everybody.
Hello.
It's now it's Friday night.
Come on, a little bit of vibe here.
Hello.
This is what I like.
This is what we need.
This is what football and soccer is about, dear Ambassador Al Thani, my dear Aa.
Dear friends, Mike, Adam, Gabriela, Hassan, Andrew, everyone here, United Excellency, ambassadors.
What a pleasure, what an honor it is to be here for this incredible event from FIFA World Cup 2022 to FIFA World Cup 2026, a legacy in motion and we celebrate this here at the UN headquarters.
An Wasaan welcome Bienvenu bienvenidos, Bienvenos will come in all languages of the world because this is exactly what will happen here in 20 days' time.
A 20 days.
I mean, time is flying.
What happened in Qatar for 3.5 years ago, the final was on 18th of December 2022.
It was really an incredible world cup.
It was the best that we have ever seen.
The quality of the games were fantastic.
The stadiums were beautiful, the fans were great.
It was a festive atmosphere.
We had no incidents in the whole world Cup.
We enjoyed it.
I said it publicly already, so I can repeat it here as well.
I would have organized the next ten world cups in Qatar.
But we had decided already beforehand to come here to North America, so we couldn't change that anymore.
I'm sorry, Ambassador Hasan.
But it was really great from His Highness Demir to everyone.
You were all engaged in welcoming the world.
The first world cup in the Arab world, the first World Cup in the Middle East.
It has really put Qatar on the world map in a different way than before.
It has impacted the country in an incredible way.
I'm sure you know all about that.
I don't want to bore you with that because the most important thing was the happiness and the joy of the millions of people coming to Doha, to Qatar, to enjoy.
All 32 teams participating countries were there in the same place.
This was one of our worries in the organization of the World Cup Hasan is nodding.
We were saying, well, what will happen with all these fans coming all to one place Will they fight with each other? Actually, Mike, when you rightly say, well, we spend so much time in discussing what divides us.
But actually we realize when we put people together, What happens is that there are many more things that unite us than the things that divide us.
We saw this and we see this always at the World Cup.
We saw this in Qatar in 2022.
I'm sure we will see this in North America again here in 20 days time and for the next 1.5 months when we want to unite the world here.
We are at the UN and maybe this is the right place as well to clarify once and for all something.
Mike, congratulations for your goal in Niger in am must have been epic.
By the way, the surname of the president of the Football Federation of Niger is Pele.
You see that you score the goal in the place where the president of soccer is Pele.
That means something, but You know, I think this is the place to clarify once and for all one thing and it's about the thing about, is it soccer or is it football? Now, we learned that it's coming from the UK, but we need to evolve.
We need to move on.
Let me clarify this.
How many Americans are here? There are quite a few.
Andrew, meaning everyone outside of this beautiful country, we call football a game we play with our feet.
That's why we call it football.
Just bear with me for a second.
In this beautiful country, you call football a game you play with your hands.
Yeah.
Who's right, who's wrong.
It doesn't really matter as long as we enjoy a fun and maybe we can do a UN resolution one day.
I think President Trump agrees already to make a presidential decree about that, so we are already on the right path now.
But jokes aside, the importance to enjoy, to be happy, and you should know that FIFA the definition of FIFA is actually official happiness provider to humanity.
Because we bring joy and happiness.
Just take a football, just take a ball and pass it around.
We tested it the other day here in the general assembly room and people immediately smile.
They are happy.
You give it to a child.
A ball is much more than an object to practice sport.
It is a magic object because it transforms human beings in happy human beings.
We often too often forget that we should be happy.
We should Try to enjoy the time that we are here and the World Cup is exactly about that.
It was like this in 2022.
It will be like this in 2026 and this for me is the most important legacy in motion.
Remind ourselves about enjoying being together, uniting the world, being happy, spending some good time together.
Everyone has his or her own problems.
The world has its own problems as well.
But sometimes we need an excuse.
We need an excuse to bring people together and the excuse is definitely the FIFA World Cup.
This FIFA world Cup starting in 20 days time will definitely be the biggest, the greatest one.
We don't need to make the FIFA World Cup great again because it has always been great.
But this one will be great because it has 48 countries, a quarter of the world participating because it has 16 host cities in three fantastic host countries, because it has 104 Super Bowls being played in 39 days because we will have 7 million people in the stadiums, because we will have 20, 30, 40 million people traveling to United States, Canada and Mexico to enjoy the World Cup because we will have 6 billion people watching.
The world will stand still.
We learned at school that the world is rotating and turning.
I can promise you that during the World Cup, the world will stand still and the eyes of the world will be focused on North America to see what is going on.
We have here some Brazilians, some Algerians, Moroccans, Argentinians.
You can testify that during a World Cup game, the cities, the countries are empty.
Everyone is in front of the TV with the family, with the friends watching the games and this feeling, this shared passion, this shared emotion is something unique.
Nothing crime rates go down during the 90 minutes.
There are no crimes committed in Brazil, in Argentina, in any country, during the 90 minutes of the game, because everyone, even criminals are watching, of course, the World Cup.
We do also something for crime prevention in FIFA amongst many other great things that we do.
But the most important, as I said, is happiness.
It's hope and it's uniting the world.
For me, as FIFA president, dear ambassador, thanks for inviting me, dear friends from Canada, Mexico, and the United States, thanks for being here and having me here.
It is an incredible honor to be here in this historic place, in this special place, and to prepare you for what is going to happen to unite the world and to our friends from North America, I have to officially issue a warning, especially to the United States because we have never been conquered in 250 years.
You will be conquered this year.
Because a horde of barbarians from all over the world, but happy barbarians, their face is colored with the colors of their flags of the will invade North America and they will transform these three countries in three happy countries and really unite the world.
We need it.
We need to unite the world.
We need to bring people together.
We need peace in the world as well.
Let's all work for that.
If we all believe in it, and if we all do something for it, I'm sure it will happen.
Thank you for having me here.
Sorry for having been long, but it's a great honor.
Thank you so much.
So that.
Thank you.
Thank you, President Ifantino for those remarks.
Now, we do use our feet a little bit in football American football not a lot, but a bit, not as much.
We appreciate you coming up here and continuing to promote football's unique ability to bring the world together.
We appreciate your words.
I will now invite up His Excellency, Mr.
Hasan Al Sowa, the managing Director the Supreme Committee for the delivery and Legacy.
A few people are more closely connected to those words, delivery and legacy.
As Qatar 2022 brought together millions of people from around the world and created an impact that extended far beyond football itself.
President Infantino, in fact, called it the best World Cup ever.
And he praised the tournament not only for its innovation and its organization, but also for the sense of unity, joy, human connection that it created for the billions of us who experienced the excitement and the emotion and the spirit that Qatar shared with the world in 2022.
Now to reflect on how Qatar 2022 became such a remarkable and unforgettable tournament and on the lasting legacy that it created, it is my pleasure to welcome His Excellency, Mr.
Hasan Alway.
Thank you very much.
I have to start by saying, I apologize.
As you can see, my voice is not at its best.
So bear with me.
I'll try my best.
Your Excellencies, Ambassador Chalia, President Ifantino, ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening.
We convene tonight to celebrate.
There goes my sheet.
Canada to the rescue.
As always, I appreciate it.
You see the importance of feet? It will always be more important than to us at least.
Thank you very much for that say, by the way.
So we convene tonight to celebrate and mark the World Cup and International Day Football.
Now, I'm definitely biased considering the effect that this has had on my own life.
But we are talking about the world's greatest cultural festival and the world's greatest sport.
The one singular event that once every four years captivates humanity in a manner that no other comes close to.
No other moment, sporting or otherwise unites men and women, boys and girls in every corner of this Earth.
The World Cup.
Now, 3.5 years ago in my country, Qatar, we had the precious and unique privilege of hosting the world's greatest cultural event, a privilege enhanced with even deeper meaning as this was the first time the World Cup would be held in the Middle East.
Our country is very proud of what we achieved in 2022, and it truly is a landmark moment in our national and regional history.
From the beginning, we approached our hosting responsibilities, recognizing the transformative power of the event.
We understood that this was much more than football.
We understood that the World Cup had the potential to serve as a catalyst for tangible legacy on human levels, on a cultural level, on a social level.
We implemented our plans with this vision, always in the front of our mind, as well as ensuring that infrastructure requirements fitted the country's vision and will continue to serve Qatar for the decades that would follow 2022.
Now, the unique compact nature of the tournament meant that 1.5 million visitors from every continent and virtually every country in the world were brought together.
In public spaces and in local landmarks, fans from everywhere gathered together, Mexicans, Argentinians, Guineans, Germans, French, everybody, including fans from non participating countries that were there to support an adopted team and to taste and soak in the feeling of being around the world's greatest event.
It was more meaningful for us as Qataris, as Arabs, as Muslims, to show the world our capabilities on this stage, to show the world that non traditional hosts can do it too in our own way.
Proud to share our culture, to share our history and our traditions, and very proud to share our hospitality.
Of welcoming.
I think more important than all of that, our unique and combined love for football.
Now, while we maintained a nucleus of Qataris at the core of our workforce, our tournament was delivered by teams of people representing every corner of this planet, working together to deliver a powerful and momentous tournament for everyone involved and one that made us all proud.
2022 was a moment of time where the world saw us in a different way.
It provided a precious opportunity to cut through decades and centuries of assumptions and misconceptions.
It showcased the true spirit of the Arab world and the Global South.
Those who visited in person shared in a true carnival atmosphere where lasting friendships and bonds were formed and lifelong memories experienced.
Now, for me personally, I always recall a specific story or a specific incident.
I met a fan from Scotland.
His national team was not there, but him and his son decided to travel and come to Qatar to experience this event for himself.
Now, he spoke so fondly of his experience and the atmosphere, the hospitality, understanding a region better, and experiencing this historic World Cup and these moments that deepened the bond between him and his son.
Now, he wrote to me after the World Cup.
He talked about how this was a trip of a lifetime and that the region would continue to stay close to his heart forever.
He even sent me a list of books he was reading about the history of the Arab world and his desire to understand us even more.
It's a perfect example of visiting fans leaving Qatar with a refreshed perception of our country and our people.
Now, in 2022, cultural understanding was enhanced in the most meaningful way through celebrating our differences and celebrating our shared humanity through our combined love of football and through the World Cup.
Now, just to go back a little bit, in the same building almost more than ten years ago, I was fortunate enough to speak next to Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and I referenced moments in the past where the World Cup had created singular moments of history for host countries.
I referenced 1954 when West Germany won the World Cup and how that signified its reentry to its international community, to the international community.
I referenced 2006, when again, Germany hosted World Cup 16 years after unification and showcased its confidence as a modern unified nation through hosting an incredible tournament.
I also referenced South Africa, hosting it in 2010, and how that tournament was truly Africa's triumph, showcasing the continent to the world in a new and special light.
And I can stand here with humility and pride all at once this evening and say that 2022 for us, achieved all this.
We understood the transformative power of the World Cup, and we did deliver on our promises.
2022 will stand the test of time as a landmark moment in the history of our region.
And I will always insist that we must make the most of the sparks of good, the sparks of positivity, the sparks of transformation, the mega events and that football in particular can inspire.
Now, that still rings true today.
No matter the politics or the current winds of thought, we can do better, and we can do more to ensure that the legacy of the World Cups and other events benefit humanity beyond hosting 64 or 104 football matches.
That must always be our collective goal.
Now, with that, we pass the bat on to colleagues and counterparts here from the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and we wish them all the very best in their hosting of the 20 26th edition of the World Cup.
Our geography is a little bit different, but when you combine it, the spirit in hosting remains the same.
Now to showcase our countries and our peoples, to enhance cultural understanding beyond our borders, and to host an event that captivates the six billions of followers around the world, and to create those shared universal moments that will live in our collective history of humanity.
And I'm very proud to say that the legacy of 2022 will cross over into 2026.
Through an agreement with FIFA, we will be providing a number of staff to deploy their expertise during the 2026 tournaments in operations along with security cooperation between relevant authorities, a partnership that is ongoing and was enhanced last year with a specific focus on delivering a safe and successful World Cup in 2026.
And I have no doubt that the legacy from 2022 and the legacy from 2026 under the guidance of FIFA, will be shared and passed on for the World Cup in 2030 and beyond.
I wish you all and I wish the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico the greatest success.
But I'm not going to lie to you.
I'm going to be a little bit selfish, just a little bit less than ours.
I still want to be considered the best ever, but you know, but in all honesty, I wish you all the best.
Congratulations.
Maybe we can play to a draw on that one.
How does that sound? Thank you, Mr.
Al Twai for those remarks and for Qatar's continued commitment to bring people, cultures, and as you mentioned, nations together through football.
Now, it's my pleasure to welcome another fellow American, His Ecellency Mr.
Andrew Giuliani, the Executive Director of the White House Task Force for FIFA World Cup 2022 of the United States.
As the countdown moves from years to now days and the US gets ready to welcome the biggest FIFA World Cup in history, the excitement is certainly building and the final details are all coming together as we talked about today.
The United States will host 78 matches from coast to coast, including here in New York, New Jersey, at MetLife Stadium, down in my community of Southern California at SoFi Stadium and nine other cities in between.
This is the United States' second time hosting the World Cup for the first time in 32 years.
Mr.
Giuliani, welcome.
Well, Andrew, thank you very much and if I may say, that's a fantastic name that you have.
There, Andrew.
Really, what an honor it is to be here in the United Nations with all of you incredible people here today.
Let me first thank Ambassador Alfani.
Thank you so much for the incredible hospitality.
You guys have set the bar truly incredibly high and one of the things that I always talk about with this World Cup is this will be a success if we're talking about great moments that happened on the pitch.
I guess moments like Ambassador Walsh's incredible goal that he scored however many decades ago.
But certainly, the greatest soccer game of all time being the final there where Argentina and Messi was able to play that incredible game against France and Mambai, that incredible back and forth, the most incredible half and extra time and penalty kicks in soccer.
Yes, soccer history.
That happened in the 2022 World Cup, Johnny, until the President sends that executive order to my desk, we still have to stick with soccer.
Although I must say, Mr.
Infantino, the last time that we were in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago and the president had been pretty adamant about this over the year that the White House task force had been formed.
He had been saying it's football, football is still football and soccer is soccer and that's what we're going to do.
The last time Mr.
Infantino made the pitch to him about football being played with the feet and soccer, what's soccer there? The president started to have a few questions about that.
Who knows? You have a couple more months to be able to put that on President Trump's radar.
I also just want to acknowledge here because in this role, traveling the country and traveling to Mexico certainly cannot wait to get to Canada and certainly had the opportunity to go to Qatar in December and other areas in the world.
But my family here tonight, my daughter Grace, who let me know that my speeches are very boring from her perspective at 4-years-old, I told her that I felt the very same way as a child for my father as well, and that certainly is on the record.
I love you very much, my darling.
To my wonderful wife, Javia, thank you for always believing in me and to my mother, Donna.
It's been an incredible ride and thank you as always, for your incredible support and your incredible love.
Ambassador Waltz, thank you for your incredible leadership for the United States and on this incredible weekend here with Memorial Day coming up.
Thank you for your service and thank you for the ultimate sacrifice that many of your brothers have made.
Important to keep that as we are taking Monday off and understanding the reasoning for that.
Look, I think more than anything else, so much of what I wanted to say was covered beforehand that I think more than anything, I should probably do a weather report.
Wouldn't this be incredible soccer weather if we were able to get this for the World Cup? Would this not be amazing, Mr.
Infantino, if this was the case right here? Let's sign up For this right now, I do think it's so important to acknowledge that on behalf of the 45th and 47th president of the United States of America, President Donald J.
Trump, it truly is an honor to be with you here today.
The United States is prepared along with Canada and Mexico, and I can't wait for you to hear from my wonderful friends, Adam and Gabriela, who are heading up their respective task forces in Canada and Mexico about the incredible work that they've done, the incredible partnership between our three countries for this incredible event, and the incredible event that we have in front of us here over the coming two months.
When you think about this and I'm so glad we compared this to Super Bowls because as Americans, that's what we really think of as our major holiday.
With 130 million people watching the last Super Bowl, it's incredible when you think that the last World Cup final, we had 2 billion people watching the World Cup final, 16 Super Bowls, truly, truly amazing.
We are hoping because of the incredible interest that they showed in the last World Cup, that we are in fact able to at least match and maybe even top that incredible World Cup in 2026.
Has been mentioned before, and I think this is the incredible place to do it, I think tonight shows you more than anything, not just in theory, but truly in practice, how soccer can connect the world, how we are bridging those divides, and how we will continue to bridge those divides over the coming two months here.
Over the next 20 days, we probably will still, and I'm sure that you will over the course of the tournament, talk about maybe some of the things that divide us, try diplomatically to bring us closer together as a world.
But the thing that will be so beautiful is come June 11th when that first ball is kicked off in Mexico City to July 19th, when that final goal is scored in New Jersey, the emotion is going to take over the world.
It's going to take over the United States of America over our 250th birthday.
It's going to take over Mexico, it's going to take over Canada.
What was truly mentioned before, which I want to highlight again is in those moments when we're rooting for our countries, we will be united.
It really is truly humanity at its very, very best.
As the representative for the United States of America for the World Cup, let me just say how honored I am to be able to play a role in what is going to be the largest sporting event, not just in American history, not just in North American history, but in American history.
Let me thank you very, very much for all the love you are going to show here not just to the United States of America, but to all of North America and helping us celebrate our 250th birthday together.
What a way it's going to be to celebrate America's semi in centennial.
When you add the incredible leadership of the United States of America, of Canada and Mexico to the FIFA World Cup, you get the greatest sporting event in world history.
It's enough talking from us.
It's time for the games to begin.
How about that? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr.
Giuliani, for sharing the excitement and vision surrounding FIFA World Cup 2026.
We talked about earlier in the day that there will be matches on the 4th of July.
So if there's something we can do to get Team USA in that spot, we'd love to see it.
We're next to hear from Her Ecellency miss Gabriella Cuevas, the Mexican Federal Government coordinator for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Mexico will host 13 FIFA World Cup matches across iconic football cities in Mexico City, Monterey, and Guadalajara, including the opening match at the legendary Estadio Esteca in Mexico City.
Now, as many of you know, Mexico has previously hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1970, 1986, and here in 2026 will become the first country in history to host the tournament for a third time.
As one of the great football nations in the world, Mexico will undoubtedly bring extraordinary passion, history, energy, and culture to this global celebration.
Under the vision of Social World Cup, Mexico, 2026, Mexico is working to ensure that the tournament leaves a lasting legacy centered on people, communities, inclusion, and opportunities for future generations.
Miss Cuevas will share Mexico's vision for a world cup that transforms football into a platform for social development, unity, and shared prosperity.
Miss Quevas, it's a pleasure to welcome you.
Thank you.
I might help Thank you very much for this wonderful invitation.
Dear sister, Ambassador Al Galtani.
It is wonderful to cocide with you and with Qatar again.
Thank you very much to all the people that has been involved in this amazing process.
Mexico is about to make history again.
Yes, with the passion that is always showing the Mexican heart, but also with setting new standards, we're going to be the first country in the world to have a third FIFA World Cup.
We are very proud of that and also very responsible.
Because we are also the first place, the first civilization that started playing with a ball.
I'm not sure if we were used to our feet, but maybe we started playing football from centuries ago.
Perhaps FFA can help us with some research about that, but we are going to host that world cup in 20 days, only 20 days to show that part of the Mexican identity, to show who we are.
To show you the very Mexican heart in Guadalajara, with the Marache and tequila, to show you the very wonders of the Mexico city, we chose a very modern and cosmopolitan city at the same time that we share all our history, past, and greatness in the museums and archaeological sites.
But also, we are going to experience this new opening for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with all the passion that we have for football.
Clearly, that's a very Mexican sport that goes in our DNA.
I'm sure that the ancient cultures truly played football.
So allow me to tell you a little bit about what we are doing in Mexico.
First of all, and that's very important.
We are ready.
We are ready to host the world again.
And we are ready because we are always prepared for that.
Again, this is our third world cup in 1966 1970, 1986, and now in 2026.
So yes, here we are.
The second part, of course, involves a lot of logistics, not only the passion that we have for football, but also a lot of things that are involved organizing this huge event.
Hassan, I'm so sorry, but yes, you hosted an amazing world cup.
I truly enjoyed Qatar and it was fantastic.
I must say that I enjoyed the event and I learned a lot.
But we are building the biggest world cup, but the goal that we are sharing with Andrew and Adam is to organize the best world cup ever in North America, 2026.
You can be sharing our happiness.
Hello.
We can invite you for sure.
The second part is that we have a very strong mandate from our president, which is we need to place people at the center of all our actions, all our decisions, all policies.
We created some kind of well being world cup, a social world cup is named Mexico 2026.
The idea of Mexico 2026 is to build our own legacy.
I'm sure that President Infantino is going to like this legacy because The the clear instruction that we receive and it is beautiful to receive this kind of instructions, is that President Chamba wants that every girl, every boy, every young person that wants to be a professional foot player we deliver all the platforms, all the possibilities to fulfill that dream.
Not only because we love football, because that's talking about social justice.
That's talking and making inclusion a reality.
That's why in Mexico, we are rebuilding and building 4,000 new football fields.
We have also perhaps the biggest schools tournament in the world.
We have more than 1 million students.
Now in a schools tournament.
We are about to have the final games this week.
So We really want to use this opportunity, this Third World Cup in Mexico, to create a new future for the next generations because President Infantino usually uses this analogy that a ball can make a lot of people together and to share a lot of possibilities.
But one of the things that you can achieve with a ball, a team, share strategies.
It's also to share the goal.
When you share the goal, just as we are doing for organizing this world cup, then you build peace, then you strengthen communities, then you give new opportunities to the next generations.
That is the true soul of football.
Yes, it is passion, it is fun, it is happiness.
But it is also about human beings giving the best part of themselves.
That's why we created the Social World Cup, Mexico 2026.
What do you expect if you go to Mexico and you are all welcome, tickets are with Stan, not with me, but you're always welcome to Mexico.
You can expect a lot of football everywhere because we love to see it, to play it, to enjoy it.
Also, a very ambitious cultural program that shows who we are in Mexico and who we are, it's about the greatness of our ancient civilization.
It is also about the modern art in my country, but it is also about the living art that we are still having in our handicrafts.
It's a lot of of who we are and that's what we are doing in Mexico for this North America 2026 with a huge accent in the Mexican sole.
Thank you very much for this wonderful journey.
It has been great to share it from Qatar to North America.
Thank you very much to Qatar for sharing your expertise.
As a good advice, always close.
Thank you very much to Andrew, to Adam, wonderful friends.
We are always exchanging the new challenges, new ideas, exchanging best practices, and also thank you very much to FIFA.
Working with FIFA, of course, with FIFA, the central offices, but also FIFA, Mexico has been a great experience.
Again, the most important part here is that we share the common goal and the common goal is to deliver the, the biggest, but the best world cup ever.
Thank you very much.
Suk Jesiln Mochel Gracias.
Thank you so much, miss Cuevas for sharing Mexico's exciting vision for FIFA World Cup 2026, centered on community, inclusion and social legacy.
Finally, it's my pleasure to introduce the Honorable Adam Vancouverden, the Secretary of State for Sport, and Candida' FIFA Sherpa.
I'm not sure if you saw it earlier, but Adam's already made the first save of the 2026 World Cup, so congratulations for that.
Put it in the record.
A four time Olympic medalist himself.
Secretary of State Vancouver has long understood the power of sport to inspire young people, strengthen communities, and bring nations together, and today he plays a leading role in Canada's preparation for the World Cup, the FIFO World Cup 2026.
Canada will host World Cup matches for the first time in its history, welcoming 13 matches across Toronto and Vancouver.
Secretary of State Vancouver, and it's a pleasure to give you the floor to hear what awaits football fans from around the world when they arrive to Canada for FIFO World Cup 2026.
Thank you very much, Andrew, for the kind introduction and Vonis to e.
Buenos Serra, President T Fantino, thank you for always bringing us together in the way that only sport can, Gabriella, Andrew.
It's been a pleasure working with you on this and to our friends from Qatar.
Ambassador Al Thani today at lunch.
I learned so much about your efforts and how it contributed to the most successful World Cup ever.
I think it's good.
Sport sets bars high.
It encourages us all to try harder to work harder, to aspire to make things even better.
So setting that bar high is something that we also in Canada aspire to do in preparations for our 13 matches.
Andrew, I don't want to correct you.
You're always on point with your statistics.
We did host the 2015 Women's FIFA World Cup.
We're very, very proud of that.
We've got some legend women soccer players, including Christine Sinclair and Diana Matheson from my hometown, Oakville, Ontario, and we're very, very proud of the genesis of the Northern Super League, Canada's first ever professional women's soccer league.
Canada is a soccer, is a sport nation.
We love all sports winter and summer, spring and fall.
And while we are a burgeoning soccer nation, we have some of the greatest male soccer players as well in Jonathan David, and Alfonso Davies and so many others.
In fact, just yesterday I was with Ateba Hutcheson, who helped me commemorate a new mini pitch at the Toronto Waterfront with Canadian tire jump start because one of the strong legacies that we would like to see from the FIFA 2026 World Cup in Canada is more sport infrastructure, more resilient, more welcoming, more inclusive sport infrastructure that will live for decades and decades to come, enabling more children and youth to have access to sport.
Andrew, I wasn't going to talk about my own sport experience, but you made me think of a story when you mentioned my own Olympic experiences.
I got to carry the flag for Canada at the 2008 opening ceremonies, and I was walking up here at the United Nations of all places to see our flag displayed prominently behind me in Um, I was reminded that when we were carrying the flag in, I was waving it as you do through the tunnel into the Bird's Nest Stadium at the 2008 Olympic Games and somebody in the Canadian contingent started singing, Oh, Canada, personally my favorite song.
I don't know if it's anybody else's.
As I turned around, I looked across the parade of Nations and I saw athletes from so many different countries.
I saw the Italians dressed in Armani.
They looked very, very Italian.
I saw our hosts from China.
They looked incredible in their red and gold.
They looked very, very Chinese.
And then when I turned around to Team Canada, I recognized that Team Canada looks like the world.
Our soccer team still does.
We always will because we're one of the most diverse countries in the world.
We welcome people from all countries around the world.
My mother came from Hungary and my father came from Holland.
We are a country built with and by immigrants in partnership with indigenous peoples and we continue to aspire to be a warm and welcoming place.
We know that sport builds nations up from the ground up, from the grassroots up.
With Prime Minister Mark Carney's new mandate, we are using sport to build our nation up, and we're so grateful for the opportunity to host the world's largest ever soccer tournament.
I know it's a football tournament, but I always thought it was called soccer because they wear the long socks.
Maybe I was wrong.
I guess we'll just blame the Brits.
Andrew and I were saying, Oh, we'll just blame the Brits this time around.
But whether you call it soccer or football.
We're so excited.
I got to hang out this morning with my friend, His Excellency Ambassador David Lemy who I served with in the Canadian Parliament.
He himself is a great soccer player and somebody who loves football and so is Prime Minister Mark Carney.
They're both fan of the game but also avid players.
Without further ado, I just wanted to say thank you to our friends from Qatar for setting the bar high, but also for sharing your expertise, your insight, your wisdom, and perspective.
On how to ensure that our games are as successful as yours were.
Soccer fans and players from around the world deserve no less than for us to collaborate, cooperate, and learn from one another so that we can ensure that the 2026 World Cup is delivered at such a world class pace as previous ones have been.
And as I reflect on Canada's kind of contribution to this World Cup, Toronto and Vancouver are both tenured sport hosting cities.
Toronto quite recently has hosted the Pan American Games, and Vancouver, of course, hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We know how to host the world, and we're really excited to, in fact, be hosting cut out at a game on June 18th.
So to our hosts this evening, I want to say thank you for sharing your wisdom, for bringing us together as only sport can, and we can't wait to host you on July 18th in Vancouver.
We're looking forward to the match.
And, of course, may the best team win and not to get terribly ahead of ourselves, but I did bring Ambassador Al Thani a gift.
And I hope that perhaps when Qatar plays on Canadian soil, I'll find myself a Qatar jersey as well.
But Your Excellency, Ambassador Al Thani perhaps you'd come up and accept this.
And to everybody, tonight, thank you to the diplomatic community for attending into the wee hours of the night.
And thank you for all of your support.
And, you know, we're here at the United Nations where we come together for a better, stronger world, for a more peaceful planet, and sport is one vehicle that can achieve the same.
So thank you very much, everyone.
26 on the record.
Thank you so much, Mr.
Vancouverd, for the glimpse into Candidates vision for FIF World Cup 2026 as it returns.
First yellow card of the tournament goes to me.
My apologies.
I'll take it.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in thanking all of our distinguished speakers tonight for their thoughtful remarks and for giving us such a meaningful insight into the legacy vision and the future of the FFL World Cup.
We now arrive to a very special moment this evening.
We invite you to experience our World Cup Legacy moment.
It's a special video that's going to project onto the North wall of this iconic United Nations Secretariat Building behind me.
Tonight's gathering is about legacy in motion, the spirit of Qatar 2022, carrying forward to North America 2026.
This projection brings that theme to life.
It's a handoff from one historic World Cup to the next from one region to another and from a remarkable legacy to a new chapter that is now less than three weeks away.
So Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the presentation.
Yeah.
Go.
Go do.
Football is more than a game.
It is a universal language felt in the roar of a crowd or the silence before the final whistle.
It is a meeting place for the world where differences fade and connections take over, making room for peace to find its voice.
Four years ago, of 2022 redefined what's possible.
I a historic moment that captured the region's limitless potential and empowered young people to dream big.
The first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world brought millions together.
Instead of the art stadiums that celebrated our heritage, it employed innovative solutions at every touchpoint, resulting in a festival of football and culture, and a fan experience open to all that redefined the meaning of organizing a truly accessible mega event.
A tournament that looked beyond the pitch to the communities it touched and the opportunities it opened to children learning through the power of sport, to local businesses given room to grow, to workers' welfare protected, to energy sourced more cleanly, to waste reduced and recycled across every stadium and fans zone.
To stadiums designed with the environment in mind, to green spaces safeguarded and to a region seen anew.
Once again, the journey continues this summer as people from every corner of the world gather, drawn by love of the beautiful game and the quiet hope of something unforgettable forging a common ground, making memories that last a lifetime.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, a remarkable tribute there to the enduring legacy and extraordinary spirit of the FIFA World Cup.
We've now come to the close of this special celebration.
We extend our sincere thanks to the United Nations, the permanent mission of the State of Qatar to the UN, to FIFA, and the representatives of the 2026 host countries of the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
We wish you every success as you prepare to welcome millions of people from around the world for what promises to be another unforgettable World Cup, perhaps the greatest of all time, depending on how our perspectives play out here.
Hasan, you did a terrific job.
Hopefully, this will be matched and even better.
In just 20 days on June 11th, the Mexico City, the FIFA World Cup, 2026 will begin opening a historic chapter for a tournament that celebrates its past and that is eager for its future to show once again football's extraordinary power to bring people together around the globe.
So we thank you all for being a part of it tonight.
Please continue to enjoy the evening, this wonderful atmosphere here in New York City.
We wish you all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and Ed Mubarak to all of those who are celebrating.
Thank you so much.