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EXCLUSIVE: The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than five months away and the State Department is preparing to roll out a system for ticket holders requiring visas.
The State Department will launch the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (FIFA PASS), PK Press Club Digital learned Tuesday. The system will give World Cup ticket holders the opportunity to access priority visa appointments before the event begins on June 11.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President Donald Trump arrive on the red carpet before the final draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, December 5, 2025. (Brian Snyder/Reuters via Imagn Images)
Prospective visa holders must be able to demonstrate that they qualify for a visa and plan to comply with United States laws and leave the country once the tournament concludes on July 19.
Scheduling the visa interview does not necessarily mean that a visa will be issued. Each candidate will be subject to security screening and appropriate screening. They will need to demonstrate that they meet the requirements for a visa.
The State Department will deploy 500 additional staff members to process applications.
President Donald Trump spoke about FIFA Pass in November. He said at the time that the State Department and Department of Homeland Security were working “tirelessly” to “ensure that soccer fans around the world are properly screened and can easily come to the United States next summer.”
President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino before the final draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 5, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters via Imagn Images)
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“I have asked my administration to do everything in its power to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success. I think it will be the biggest, and we are setting records for ticket sales,” Trump said at the time.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the organization expected “between five and ten million people to come to America from all over the world to enjoy the World Cup.”
“With this FIFA Pass, we can guarantee that those who buy a ticket are legitimate football fans, or football fans… that they can come and watch the World Cup in the best conditions – starting with getting their visa and then, of course, in the country to enjoy it,” Infantino said in the Oval Office.
FILE – In this May 27, 2015 file photo, two people appear in the FIFA logo at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file)
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Trump strongly encouraged World Cup ticket holders around the world to apply for their US visas “immediately.”
