Trump will be presenting the trophy to the world champions (Picture: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Donald Trump will be in attendance to hand the World Cup trophy to the winners of Sunday’s final between Spain and Argentina.
The President of the United States has been notable by his absence throughout the tournament which has taken place across the US, Canada and Mexico, set to come to a thrilling conclusion at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey this weekend.
The White House has confirmed Trump will attend a match for the first time having missed the US’ opening ceremony and opening match back in June due to scheduling conflicts. His presence has been felt off the pitch however, personally intervening to get a red card shown to USA star Folarin Balogun suspended.
Trump will be in attendance as Argentina seek to defend their title and in a break of traditional FIFA protocol, the governing body’s president Gianni Infantino has confirmed the trophy will be jointly presented by him and the President.
Exclusive World Cup final buildup
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‘Yes, hopefully we’ll present the trophy together in the final,’ Infantino told Blue News. ‘That’s always been the plan, and that’s how it’s always been done in the past—the president of the country where the final is held presents the trophy together with the FIFA president.’
Heads of state have previously presented the trophy to winning teams. Queen Elizabeth II handed the World Cup to Bobby Moore after England’s triumph in 1966 with King Juan Carlos of Spain doing likewise in 1982, presenting the gold to Italy captain Dino Zoff.
Infantino and his predecessor Sepp Blatter have personally presented the trophy in recent World Cups.
Trump has so far been absent from World Cup matches (Picture: Getty)
Russian president Vladimir Putin was on stage for France’s triumph in Moscow in 2018 but did not hand the trophy to France captain Hugo Lloris and exited before the trophy lift.
At the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, stood with Infantino to present the trophy to Argentina captain Lionel Messi. Al Thani also draped a bisht, a traditional Qatari cloak, around Messi moments before the trophy lift.
If last summer’s Club World Cup is evidence to go by, Trump could have an even bigger role to play.
The 80-year-old was a looming presence at the competition which served as a large scale dress rehearsal for this summer’s tournament. Chelsea won the Club World Cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final with Trump handing the trophy to Blues captain Reece James.
Trump stayed on stage as Chelsea lifted the trophy last summer (Picture: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Trump remained on stage for the trophy lift and was firmly in the thick of the Chelsea celebrations, keeping his place on stage amongst the Premier League stars.
It came to the bemusement of Chelsea star Cole Palmer who was spotted asking why the President was still there.
‘I knew he was going to be here, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy. I was a bit confused, yes,’ Palmer said.
Chelsea captain James said: ‘They told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage and I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay.’
In other breaks from tradition, Sunday’s winners will also be presented with World Cup rings with championship rings handed out to NBA, MLB and NHL victors.
A Super Bowl-style half-time show will also take place which could last up to 25 minutes. Laws of the game traditionally prohibit the interval of any football match lasting more than 15 minutes.
