The Soccer World Cup in the US starts in June, but some players, and fans wanting to visit, may not be allowed in. Andrew Gardiner reports on travel risks.
Australia’s World Cup-bound Socceroos face an anxious wait over the next few months on whether Jackson Irvine can play. Irvine – a “vital cog in the Socceroos midfield” with 80 caps to his name – might miss the mid-year tournament, to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico; not because of any Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear, but as a result of “McCarthyist” policies from the Trump Administration.
US officials have taken to screening the social media of visitors – World Cup footballers included – for what it calls “antisemitism” and other proscribed thoughts (such as dislike for Trump). “There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathisers”, the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said when announcing the policy last year.
Ordinarily, Irvine donning a ‘Palestine FC’ shirt (as he did), posting a picture of it online and making some statements of fact about the carnage in Gaza wouldn’t jeopardise his place at the World Cup. As Irvine explains, he merely wanted to “show solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
St. Pauli captain Jackson Irvine spoke about the controversy and accusations surrounding his support for Palestine:
“I wanted to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially those in Gaza. They are going through unimaginable suffering.” pic.twitter.com/Iwg79FIMdO
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) July 22, 2025
But these are far from ordinary times. After he donned the contentious shirt, a Zionist campaign to oust Irvine from his German Bundesliga club FC St.Pauli (where he is captain) saw one club board member posting that the Australian would “be gone in a few months. We’ll always be here, while you’ll be nothing more than a footnote.”
For his part, Irvine found the accusations of anti-Semitism “deeply insulting (as) I’ve never discriminated against people or groups or expressed hatred in any form (and) my focus is always on the human perspective”. His ordeal may not be over, as Zionist influence goes well beyond German football clubs, all the way to the White House.
The Socceroos will need all hands on deck when they meet co-hosts the US, with Trump himself in likely attendance, at Seattle’s Lumen Field on June 20. But they aren’t the only team sweating on the whims of officials whose guidelines on “antisemitism” are both vague and variable.
Other players vital to the success of their teams, such as Mo Salah (Egypt), Wesley Fofana (France) and Kerem Aktürko (Türkiye), have also made their feelings on Gaza clear. Like the estimated 68 million foreign visitors who have run the gauntlet of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since these rules took effect last April, they may have to wait until they arrive at airports like O’Hare or LAX before they learn their fate.
Warning signs galore
Jackson Irvine’s dilemma is shared by thousands of Australians contemplating a visit to the US for this year’s World Cup. They too face having up to 10 years of social media, emails and texts scanned by cutting-edge Palantir AI.
“We kill enemies”: Spy firm Palantir secures top Australian security clearance
“Upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t please the officials, they’ll be put straight on the next flight home – if they’re lucky”, lawyer and FIFA reform expert Mark Pieth said. But there are broader, sometimes-compelling reasons for fans to think twice before parting with up to $23,000 for the privilege of watching a soccer tournament.
While Australian warnings have been muted, those of groups like Football Supporters Europe (FSE) are well worth a look. FSE is “extremely concerned by the ongoing militarisation” of agencies like ICE and Customs & Border Protection (CBP), which will likely patrol World Cup stadiums in the US.
ICE, of course, has been in the news of late, first for manhandling and mass deporting what the agency calls “illegals” and then for shooting protesters dead in conspicuously suspicious circumstances. “(He) is clearly not holding a gun when (killed) by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs”, protester Alex Pretti’s family stated.
Socceroo fans remain in the dark on how ICE and CBP officers will conduct themselves in and around stadiums, and on what they can expect when walking around American cities at a time some compare to the months before the country’s Civil War (1861-65).
Land of the Free now the nightmare destination for US tourists
DFAT Smartraveller
In a case of borderline malpractice, DFAT’s Smartraveller website has not been updated since serious unrest began in Minneapolis. The site, last updated in November, nonetheless offers advice applicable to all visitors:
- Avoid areas where demonstrations and protests are occurring due to the potential for unrest and violence;
- Monitor media for updates;
- Follow the instructions of local authorities, and,
- Abide by any curfews.
Smartraveller also points out “a persistent threat of mass casualty violence and terrorist attacks” in the US. Experts see that danger rising with each Trump misadventure in countries like Iran or Venezuela, not to mention his support for Israel during Gaza.
Former Homeland Security advisor Michael Balboni warned that Iran could retaliate against future attacks, which are seen as “inevitable”, via “sleeper cells” inside the US. “Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it”, an Iranian spokesman ominously said.
Risk of entering the US
Other countries, less bothered by the prospect of upsetting Trump, point to overt hostility from officialdom at the airport when you arrive, the threat to academics and students’ free expression (especially on Israel and Gaza) and the potential for wrongful detention in facilities where rates of death and disease are at their highest in decades.
“I worry about the border and getting stuck somehow (and) there’s just a sense of uneasiness around visiting America at the moment”, Canadian travel journalist Kate Dingwall said.
Land of the Free now the nightmare destination for US tourists
Meanwhile, business visitors are warned of the risks of investing there at the moment, amid concerns about geopolitical conflicts, tariff uncertainty and Trump’s attempts to impose his will on the Federal Reserve, putting short-term politics ahead of sound policy. “The United States appears to many a predatory rogue actor, a major destabilising force”, Strategic Foresight expert Robert Manning wrote.
In recent months, television viewers have been bombarded with ads promoting “America the Beautiful” as a tourist destination. And little wonder: visitors from Australia dropped 10 per cent year-to-year in December, following a 13 per cent slide the previous month.
As for those fans still contemplating a trip across the pond, perhaps former FIFA president Sepp Blatter merits the last word: “there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!”
“For the fans, there’s only one piece of advice: stay away from the USA!” I think Mark Pieth is right to question this World Cup. #MarkPieth #GianniInfantino #DonaldTrump #FIFAWorldCup2026 #USA
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) January 26, 2026