What if Germany boycotted the 2026 World Cup? The German football federation (DFB) and the international federation (Fifa) will decide in complete “autonomy” whether or not to boycott the World Cup organized this summer largely in the United States, the German government told AFP after calls to this effect in response to Donald Trump’s threats.
“This assessment is therefore the responsibility of the federations concerned, in this case the DFB and FIFA. The federal government will accept this assessment,” indicated Secretary of State for Sports Christiane Schenderlein in a comment sent by email to AFP, which questioned the government on the possibility of a boycott of the World Cup organized in Canada, the United States and Mexico (June 11 – July 19).
“The federal government respects the autonomy of sport. Decisions regarding participation in major sporting events or boycotting them lie exclusively with the competent sports federations, and not with politics,” also declared Ms. Schenderlein, a member of the CDU, the conservative party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
A “last resort to bring President Trump to his senses”
Faced with tensions arising from the American desire to seize Greenland and the threats of increased customs taxes against European states which oppose it, the first voices evoking a boycott – or even a cancellation – of the World Cup have been heard in Germany, a major football nation, in recent days.
If Donald Trump carries out his “threats regarding Greenland and starts a trade war with the EU, I find it hard to imagine that European countries will participate in the World Cup,” influential conservative MP Roderich Kiesewetter told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Tuesday.
Another CDU MP, Jürgen Hardt, spokesperson for his group on foreign policy, spoke to the newspaper Bild of a “cancellation of the tournament” as a “last resort to bring President Trump to reason”.
Demanding a “united response” from Europe, Social Democratic MP (SPD) Sebastian Roloff raised with the business newspaper Handelsblatt the option of “considering renunciation of participation in the World Cup”.
Germany has not missed the World Cup since 1950
According to a poll by the Insa institute for Bild carried out on Thursday and Friday among 1,000 people, almost half of Germans (47%) would approve of a boycott of the World Cup in the event of the effective annexation of Greenland by Washington. A large third (35%) would remain opposed to it. Quadruple world champions, the German selection has not missed a World Cup since the immediate post-war period (1950).
Donald Trump has recently shown great closeness with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, who presented him with a newly created “Fifa Peace Prize” during the World Cup draw last month.
