FIFA President Gianni Infantino promised the 2026 World Cup would be the biggest, most inclusive tournament in history. Instead, fans are being priced out, supporters from qualifying nations are barred from entering the US, players have been detained and questioned at the border, and Iran's team is sleeping in Mexico because of restrictions on staying overnight in the country after they play. Amnesty International warns the tournament risks becoming a "stage for repression" — and ICE agents will be inside the stadiums.

What happens when the world's biggest celebration of sport collides with the politics of its host? And how much of the blame belongs to FIFA itself?

Jasmine El-Gamal speaks with Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen — Middle East fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute and author of Kingdom of Football: Saudi Arabia and the Remaking of World Soccer — about sports diplomacy, sportswashing in reverse, and what this World Cup reveals about America's place in the world.