SINGAPORE PERSPECTIVE

Singapore analyzes the event with the strategic detachment of a crossroads used to decoding the soft power of great powers. The sharpest angle comes from an academic commentary: instead of a 'soft power coup,' the World Cup could be an 'own goal' for Donald Trump. The argument is clear: for host nations, a World Cup is usually a 'soft power supercharger,' a showcase watched by billions to promote one's culture and values. But 'there is a crucial difference between soft power and spectacle' — and early signs suggest the 2026 edition mainly offers the latter to Trump's America: 'an event that highlights power (not the soft kind), tribute, exclusion and vested interests.' Where Washington could use an image boost after eighteen months of polarizing leadership, sports diplomacy risks backfiring. Singapore also relays the fractures the tournament exposes beyond the United States: in Toronto, protesters unfurled a giant banner 'Kick Israel out of FIFA' near the World Cup logo on the Gardiner Expressway, denouncing FIFA's 'complicity.' For the city-state, these tensions confirm that sporting mega-events have become geopolitical battlegrounds where image is won or lost, and that the America of 2026 is playing for high stakes without controlling the script.