Carnival or Control? Politics and the 2026 World Cup ft. Pete Watson & Roger Magazine

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, how will geopolitics, migration policy and fan culture shape the tournament across the United States, Mexico and Canada? In this episode of FootPol, Guy Burton is joined by Pete Watson (University of Leeds) and Roger Magazine (Universidad Iberoamericana) to unpack the political fault lines running through the next World Cup, from US intervention in Venezuela and FIFA’s alignment with Donald Trump to visa regimes, immigration enforcement and security-heavy hosting models. Focusing on Latin American perspectives, the discussion explores rivalries, national memory, diaspora fandom and the risk that surveillance, ticket pricing and border controls could suppress the carnival atmosphere that defines World Cups. With Mexico navigating a secondary hosting role, US venues poised to dominate the later stages and Canada largely out of the spotlight, the episode asks whether 2026 will be remembered as a festival of football — or a case study in how power, politics and security reshape the world’s biggest sporting event.