Donald Trump will attend the 2026 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where he will be joined by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to present the trophy to the winning team.
The question on everyone’s mind is, who does the United States president think will win the biggest game in soccer. In a pre-recorded interview with Fox’s Jenny Taft, Trump refrained from making a direct prediction, but he did express his admiration for Lionel Messi, saying it would be difficult to bet against him, especially since this could be Messi’s final World Cup match.
“I thought about it a lot. I knew that was a question. I hate to get involved, even though politically, it doesn’t matter so much. The head of Argentina is a friend of mine, he’s done a terrific job. But I would say that it’s hard to bet against Messi,” Trump said in the interview. “… I won’t pick sides. I just think it’s very hard to bet against Messi. He’s great.”
Messi is on the verge of making history, as he enters Sunday’s match just one goal behind France’s Kylian Mbappe for the World Cup all-time scoring record, after Mbappe took the top spot in Saturday’s third-place game against England. Throughout the tournament, the 39-year-old has been instrumental in Argentina’s success, scoring eight of the team’s 16 goals, including the first five in Group J play. If Messi scores in Sunday’s match, it will be his 22nd goal in six World Cup appearances.
Trump also praised Messi as “one of the greatest” to play soccer, putting him in the same league as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. “He’s certainly one of the greatest. I get this information from my son, Baron, (who) is a tremendous soccer fan. But you have some other really incredible players playing here, but I would say right now, when you look, I’ve always liked Ronaldo. I’ve always liked Messi,” Trump said.
Argentina and Spain are set to face off in the World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, with the match scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. ET.
