FIFA clears Trump to stay on stage again if USA wins the World Cup trophy lift

FIFA has confirmed it will not stop Donald Trump from joining the World Cup trophy lift if he chooses to stay on the podium, repeating the scene that caught Chelsea’s players off guard at last summer’s Club World Cup final.

Sources indicate that FIFA will leave the decision entirely to Trump, and those at the White House expect him to again celebrate alongside the winning team. Mexican and Canadian officials will also be invited to appear at the closing ceremony, with Trump already confirmed as the man to hand over the trophy to the eventual champions.

At the Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium last year, Trump presented the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James following the Blues’ victory over PSG — but then declined to leave the stage as protocol would normally require. FIFA’s standard procedure is for the trophy to remain on a plinth and be carried by a member of the winning team onto the celebration podium, with presenting dignitaries stepping aside.

James later admitted he had been caught off guard by the moment. “Before, 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,” the Chelsea captain said.

Cole Palmer, who scored twice in the final, was similarly surprised. “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,” the midfielder said.

Trump was absent from the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for the United States’ opening World Cup match, a comfortable victory over Paraguay. His non-attendance was attributed to a “tight schedule” by White House executive director Andrew Giuliani.

With the USA hosting the majority of this summer’s matches, the prospect of Trump appearing at the final — and potentially reprising his role as an uninvited participant in the celebrations — is now a live question for FIFA and the winning nation’s players alike.