Intelligence briefings have warned of the potential for extremists and criminals to target the FIFA World Cup 2026 at a time when hundreds of millions of dollars of approved security funds have been delayed, causing United States preparations to fall behind.The previously unreported briefings from US federal and state officials and FIFA, the international federation overseeing the World Cup, outlined the risk of extremist attacks, including attacks on transportation infrastructure and civil unrest related to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe football World Cup, one of the globe’s biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July this year across three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico.While security at such events is always intense, US law enforcement officials have been on especially heightened alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and have raised concerns over retaliatory threats.Officials working to prepare for the World Cup in the US have increasingly sounded alarms in recent weeks over a stalled $625m in federal security grants for the event that were part of a Republican-backed spending bill passed in July 2025.The Federal Emergency Management Agency, tasked with distributing the money, said in November that it was expecting to allocate the funds no later than January 30.Following inquiries by Reuters this month after officials and organisers complained t …
