2026 World Cup: Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, critic of Donald Trump, will attend the final; Argentinian President Javier Milei absent due to “superstition”
We do not yet know the starting eleven of the two teams but the composition of the presidential stand for the final of the 2026 Football World Cup, Sunday July 19, is becoming more and more refined. In this meeting which will pit Spain against Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, on the outskirts of New York (9 p.m. Paris time), the American president, Donald Trump, will be present, alongside the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez.
Discreet since the start of the World Cup, which the United States co-organized with Mexico and Canada, before erupting during the controversy linked to Team USA striker Folarin Balogun, Donald Trump will be in the stands. “His presence will crown what was the most followed, the most secure and the most successful World Cup in the history of the United States”White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt argued on Thursday. As is customary for the leader of the organizing country, the octogenarian will have the privilege of presenting the trophy to the winners alongside the president of the International Football Federation, Gianni Infantino, as the body announced in June.
Donald Trump will not be the only head of state or government present in the stands of the gigantic MetLife Stadium, with a capacity of 82,500 spectators. Alongside the King of Spain, Felipe VI, the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, will also attend the final, his office assured Agence France-Presse on Friday.
No Javier Milei in New York
This visit comes in a context of strong tensions between Madrid and Washington. Relations between the two leaders have deteriorated significantly since the start of the year, notably due to Pedro Sanchez’s opposition to the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran. The American president criticizes Spain for not devoting enough resources to defense within NATO and for refusing to allow the United States to use military bases located in Andalusia to carry out strikes against Iran.
Donald Trump even went so far as to threaten to “cease all commercial exchanges” with the Iberian country and to qualify Spain as “lost cause” during the NATO summit in Ankara, Wednesday July 8. In response, Pedro Sanchez assured that relations with the United States remained “very positive”. The Spanish Prime Minister explained that he had spoken “football, World Cup” And “golf” with Donald Trump during an informal exchange and “courteous”.
If he will therefore have, with Pedro Sanchez, one of his slayers at his side, Donald Trump will not be able to count on the presence of the Argentine President, Javier Milei, to whom he is much closer politically. The far-right leader announced Thursday to the Argentine media El Observadorthat he would not go to the United States but would follow the final on television, for “superstition”. He responded in the affirmative to the reporter’s question about whether he was not going to MetLife Stadium due to a “cabala”a ritual widely practiced by Argentines consisting of reproducing the same gestures from one match to another in order not to break a series of victories.
Javier Milei will also, out of superstition, wear a thick jacket from the public oil company YPF to watch the match. “How cold it was (Argentina is in the middle of the southern winter) and I don’t turn on the heating, I used a jacket from the oil company. Thanks to her, on the day of the match against Switzerland (in the quarter-finals)I was very hot »he said, concluding that when he removed it, the Albiceleste “had taken a goal” against the Nati.
