Mainstream coverage this week focused on economic projections for the 2026 World Cup—Tourism Economics and a FIFA–WTO report that estimate about 1.2 million international visitors to 11 U.S. host cities, roughly 12‑day stays, about $400/day spending, and 78 U.S. matches between June 12 and July 19, 2026—and on Iran’s announced boycott of the Washington, D.C. draw after U.S. visa denials, with Iran asking FIFA for help while U.S. exemptions for major sporting events remain unclear.
Missing from mainstream reports were several important contexts and alternative analyses: independent data showing a steep drop in U.S. inbound travel in 2025 (notably large declines from Canada and Western Europe) and attribution of that fall to tariffs, travel bans and rhetoric; scrutiny that FIFA‑commissioned economic gains may be overstated; large and uneven hosting and security costs (cities seeking hundreds of millions in federal support and per‑city costs far above FIFA contributions); and distributional effects (the tourism boost may disproportionately affect minority front‑line hospitality workers who remain underrepresented in leadership). Also underreported were specifics about the U.S. travel ban lists and the diplomatic/legal detail behind Iran’s visa denials. These missing statistics, methodological critiques, historical tourism baselines, and cost‑sharing figures would give readers a fuller picture than the headlines alone.