The World Cup starts on Thursday. Co-hosts Mexico will face South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. This tournament will have 48 teams and last for nearly six weeks.
The event is being hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is the largest World Cup ever and will continue until the final in New Jersey on July 19.
The tournament is expected to bring in a record $13 billion. But FIFA, football's governing body, has faced backlash over high ticket prices. Donald Trump’s immigration policies have also stopped a top referee, some Iranian officials, and fans from entering the United States.
In Mexico City on Wednesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the tournament organization. He dismissed complaints about visa problems.
Infantino claimed that the ticket prices, which can reach over $30,000, are justified. He pointed out that there are some tickets available for $60 as a response to the criticism.
"Let me just say that our entry price, which is 60 dollars, is the lowest entry price of any of the American sports in the play-off phases," Infantino said.
"Our average price which is below 500 dollars is again the lowest of the American sports on average."
He also talked about the situation with Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the United States after arriving in Miami last Saturday. This was due to security issues raised by U.S. immigration.
FIFA confirmed that Artan, who the U.S. State Department said had connections to suspected terrorists, will not participate in the tournament.
"It is unfortunate what happened to the referee from Somalia," Infantino said.
"We don’t control everything. Sometimes it’s good to chill, relax, we work on everything, we try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution."
Infantino described Iran's participation in the World Cup, amid its military conflict with the U.S., as a success for FIFA.
"People were saying Iran couldn’t come to the World Cup," Infantino said. "There are challenges, it’s not easy, but I don’t know who else would have been able to ensure in these circumstances, which we could not influence, Iran could come and play."
Infantino's close ties with Trump have also raised eyebrows. But he insisted that without Trump, organizing a World Cup in the U.S. would have been impossible.
"Without his engagement and involvement, I think it would have been, simple as that, impossible to organize a World Cup in the United States," Infantino said.
Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he plans to watch some World Cup matches but did not give details.
"I spoke to Gianni this morning. He said there’s never been anything close to the success of the coming tournament," Trump said.
South Africa coach Hugo Broos told his players they must ignore the noise during the opening match in Estadio Azteca. This famous venue hosted the World Cup finals in 1970 and 1986.
"They will have 85,000 Mexicans shouting and singing. But we have to focus on our game. And if we can do that… then we can have a good game," said the Belgian coach.
Mexico has never won the opening match of a World Cup, despite taking part seven times. Coach Javier Aguirre aims to change that.
"We have to break the statistic," Aguirre said. "I’m going to share (that fact) with the players. It will be another source of motivation."
South Korea and the Czech Republic will play the second game on opening day in Guadalajara.
Spain, France, and England are the favorites to win, while reigning champions Argentina will rely on their 38-year-old star Lionel Messi to lead them to the final.
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