The World Cup’s Maga makeover

Today in Focus

The Guardian

Daily News, News

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Guardian sportswriter Jonathan Liew on how football went about courting Donald Trump – and how it might regret it when the World Cup comes to the US next summer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:08.8	Today, Trump, FIFA and the Phylley Football Peace Prize.
0:27.6	This is the day that people across the region and around the world have been working... Back in October, as world leaders gathered in Charm Al-Shake to herald Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza, there were some familiar faces.
0:36.4	The Prime Minister of Hungary, Victor Orban.
0:39.8	Oh, Victor, where is Victor, Victor, Victor, Victor, I call him.
0:44.1	The Saudi foreign minister, Erdogan, the president of Turkey.
0:48.2	He's such a tough guy. He is tough as you can be, but we love him.
0:52.9	The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrichsmeerts.
0:55.6	He's easy to spot because he's very tall.
0:59.4	Even Tony Blair.
1:01.4	The European Union to latter countries, France.
1:05.6	But there was one face that really stuck out.
1:08.6	Well, football's role has to be to support, has to be to unite, has to be to give hope in
1:16.6	Gaza and Palestine.
1:18.6	Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.
1:26.6	Many people wondered what the heck he was doing there.
1:30.2	To them, the job of a FIFA president is to pull numbered balls out of a big hat,
1:35.4	not taking part in a peace summit to determine the fate of the Middle East.
1:40.4	But Infantino sees himself as far more important than a glorified bingo caller.
1:45.9	He made that somewhat unlikely appearance in Egypt after courting Trump for years.
1:51.4	And today, the crowning moment in this odd friendship.
1:55.2	A star-studded event in Washington to reveal the draws for next year's World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 11 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Guardian, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Guardian and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.