Scotland football fans, like fans in small countries worldwide, are used to disappointment. I’m one of them.
The worst bit is not the despair. It’s the hope – the hope that the team will do well – and then crashing out. Scotland last qualified for the finals of the Fifa World Cup back in 1998, but now the team is through to next year’s finals, and it is set to be an extraordinary affair. Jointly hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 World Cup will be the biggest and most diverse football tournament ever.
Scotland qualified by beating Denmark 4-2 thanks to two astonishing goals in extra time, but the joy and excitement is diminished by knowing that Scotland’s group next year contains Brazil, the most successful national team in World Cup history. Brazil has won the trophy a record five times. Scotland also face up-and-coming teams from Morocco and Haiti.
Beyond the predictable dramas on the pitch, there are signs that the World Cup is unique for reasons that have nothing to do with the beautiful game. Relations between the current US administration and its neighbouring joint hosts Mexico and Canada are already strained by American President Donald Trump’s on-and-off tariff threats.
The Trump administration’s hostility towards migrants coming through Mexico is also a source of irritation, and at times anger, across Latin America. Then there is the continuing sabre-rattling that includes the enormous US military build-up in the Caribbean. The Pentagon says it is targeting drug smugglers and the illegal fentanyl trade from Venezuela, while reports from law enforcement organisations suggest that the main source of fentanyl for US users is, in fact, Mexico.
Beyond what might be called the usual diplomatic, economic, trade and security problems concerning the US President, there is also now the strange but revealing tale of the “Fifa peace prize”.
It’s certainly not the Nobel Peace Prize. That dates from 1901. Instead, the world footballing body says this completely new honour “recognises the enormous efforts of those individuals who unite people, bringing hope for future generations”. The first-ever recipient of the first-ever football peace prize is the US President.
This resulted in an awkward televised ceremony during which Fifa president Gianni Infantino presented the prize to a clearly delighted Mr Trump in Washington’s Kennedy Centre. It came as the warm-up to the all-important draw to decide in which groups each national team would play. Commentators and TV comedians poked fun at the event, but perhaps Mr Infantino is being very diplomatic in teaching the world how realpolitik works in the Trump era.
As Mr Trump’s redecoration of the White House shows, he likes gold. As his relationships with world leaders demonstrate, he also loves praise, publicity and gifts. Football brings together sport, fame, diplomacy and money, all of which feature prominently in Mr Trump’s world outlook. Mr Infantino understands this.
Having Mr Trump onside in the greatest sporting event of 2026 is hugely important for football. If it requires the offer of a previously non-existent football peace prize to ensure that the Trump administration will do its best to make the World Cup a success, then that’s a price worth paying. As Mr Infantino said to Mr Trump: “This is your peace prize. It is also a beautiful medal that you can wear everywhere you want to go.”
Critics were less enthusiastic. Some suggested that Mr Trump’s ability to bring “peace” is not truly prizeworthy. From Gaza and Ukraine to the attacks on small boats off the coast of Venezuela, “peace” around the world is extremely elusive.
USA Today was scathing: “In a surprise to no one, Trump received Fifa’s made-up, not-to-be-taken-seriously-at-all token award that was created solely for the purpose of stroking the president’s considerable ego. He got a gaudy, gold trophy – the better to match the Oval Office! – a medal he immediately put on and a certificate to commemorate the embarrassing, err, momentous occasion.”
Vanity Fair was equally unimpressed: “A hagiographic video was played which applauded the president for the Abraham Accords, which he oversaw in his first term, as well as a long list of peace treaties Trump has taken credit for. That included a few, like one between Serbia and Kosovo, which do not exist, and the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which despite the agreement remain embroiled in a bloody conflict.”
Nevertheless, the counter argument is clear. Mr Infantino understands that Mr Trump responds to flattery, prizes, awards, acclaim and gold. He responds very badly to criticism, however accurate. If you were Mr Infantino – a man with one job, to make the 2026 World Cup a success – what would you do?
The first-ever Fifa peace prize may – or may not – encourage Mr Trump to pursue real peace in Gaza and elsewhere. In world affairs as well as in football, it’s not the despair that is so unsettling. It’s the hope.
