Uneasy neighbours: Can three World Cup hosts put differences aside for a month?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Uneasy neighbours: Can three World Cup hosts put differences aside for a month? 29 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleAnthony Zurcher, Jessica Murphy and Will GrantWashington DC, Toronto and Mexico City Watch: World Cup hosts Trump, Sheinbaum and Carney take stage togetherThink of it as being like a dinner party where the hosts are in the midst of a tense argument when you arrive. Football fans travelling to North America for the continent's first co-hosted World Cup will find three host countries who have endured a tense time.

The tournament, which will take place across a sprawling 16 host cities and three countries, comes after a period of fractious relations between its hosts: the US, Canada and Mexico. The underlying issues seemed distant when the countries' leaders met for the draw in Washington DC in December and posed for a selfie with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino. But teaming up for a full 39-day tournament is likely to be a different ball game.

The Details

US President Donald Trump has been unashamedly open about the fact that the US is the dominant power on the continent. That means the very real tensions between the three nations on issues such as trade, immigration and drug-trafficking - which have all simmered since Trump returned to office - could spill back into view. On the other hand, get it right and the World Cup could forge closer ties between the trio.

Tensions over trade, tourism - and TrumpMexico and Canada, the top trading partners for the US, will not have forgotten that they were among the first countries to be targeted by Trump with tariffs. Canada - which was also angered by Trump's repeated comments about making the country a "51st state" of the US - hit back with its own counter-measures. Provinces pulled US alcohol from shelves and Canadians significantly curbed travel south, which irritated the US in return.

The issues Canada and Mexico both have with the US have also impacted relationship between them, suggests Carlo Dade, director of international policy at the University of Calgary. Canada had been accused of throwing Mexico under the bus ahead of Trump's second term, as Canadian and US officials argued that Mexico was serving as a back door in North America for Chinese investment. "It was downright disrespectful," Dade comments.

What Experts Say

That means Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also found himself trying to patch things up with Mexico as he tries to diversify trade away from the US. Three's a crowdA World Cup has never before been hosted across three countries. And given that the 2026 tournament is spanning an entire continent, there is a wide array of different authorities involved.

With fans travelling between the three nations to watch matches, stepped-up US immigration enforcement efforts could create logistical headaches and inflame already frayed nerves.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.