Trump-Allied FIFA Prez Racked Up Truly Staggering Number Of Air Miles At World Cup

Multiple flights in a single day. Nearly 60,000 miles. More than 100 hours aloft.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino got some serious air time over the course of the 2026 World Cup, the tournament’s most far-flung edition ever. He crisscrossed North America for matches, meetings and other appearances during the competition, which took place in three countries, 16 cities and four time zones, and ended with Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

To track his travels, The Associated Press analyzed flight logs for a private business jet used by Infantino in recent years, along with photos taken by AP photographers and images posted on Instagram by FIFA and the head of world soccer’s governing body himself. The analysis shows that by the time Spain defeated Argentina for the world title, he flew far enough to circle the planet almost 2 1/2 times.

Access to a Gulfstream G650 jet from the fleet of the Qatari government made Infantino’s prodigious jet-setting possible. The aircraft is operated by the private charter division of Qatar Airways, a World Cup sponsor.

Since a June 9 flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City ahead of the tournament’s opening match, the aircraft averaged more than one flight a day and on multiple days made more than three, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.

Along with attending matches, Infantino’s itinerary included stops in New York for an interview on Fox & Friends and in Miami for a FIFA summit attended by representatives from the organization’s 211 member associations. He also flew to Doha to attend the funeral of Qatar’s former emir before returning to the U.S. in time for the World Cup semifinals.

FIFA did not respond to an emailed request for comment about Infantino’s travel schedule and arrangements.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers racked up by the person overseeing the 39-day tournament that featured a record 104 matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the largest geographic footprint in World Cup history.

The number of World Cup matches Infantino attended during the tournament, according to AP’s analysis. He was at a World Cup game on 31 of the tournament’s 34 match days but managed to squeeze in two matches on some days.

One of the two match days he missed was spent in Miami for the FIFA Executive Football Summits. FlightAware showed the Gulfstream originally was scheduled to fly from New Jersey to Miami in time for Saturday’s third-place match between England and France but never took off. Thunderstorms caused flight delays at New York City area airports on Saturday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Infantino saw at least one match at all 16 World Cup venues. Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where he attended five games, is the venue he visited the most.

The number of days Infantino attended two matches, often at stadiums located hundreds of miles apart.

The Gulfstream mostly used the host cities’ main international airports during the tournament but sometimes relied on smaller general and business aviation airports, including Atlanta’s Fulton County Executive Airport and Miami’s Opa Locka Executive Airport.

The number of international border crossings the jet made within North America through the semifinals.

The flight time the Gulfstream amassed during the tournament, not including repositioning flights and 29 hours of travel for the funeral in Qatar, equals nearly five full days in the air and would be enough for a commercial plane traveling at typical cruising speed to fly from New York to Los Angeles 20 times.

Excluding the journey to Qatar, the flight that took the longest lasted 344 minutes and went from Miami to Seattle, where Infantino attended the Belgium-Egypt match on June 15. The flight time is the same length as three full World Cup matches from kickoff to final whistle.

The shortest flight time, excluding repositioning flights, was a 28-minute hop from Seattle to Vancouver on July 6 — about the length of a network TV sitcom like “Friends” with commercials. Infantino attended the United States-Belgium match in Seattle that day before watching Switzerland face Colombia in Vancouver the following day.

The distance the jet traveled during the tournament, excluding the journey to Qatar and back for the funeral, according to the AP analysis. That’s more than round-trip flights between New York and Singapore, Los Angeles and Doha, Qatar, and London and the Australian city of Perth combined.

The most miles covered in a single day’s itinerary were flown on June 26, which started with a morning trip from Miami to Dallas. From there, the plane went to Seattle, where Infantino attended the Egypt-Iran match. The final leg departed Seattle late that night and landed the next morning in Miami. Infantino watched Colombia face Portugal there.

FIFA has pledged to reduce carbon emissions from the World Cup and related activities by half by 2030 and has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. The organization’s 2026 World Cup sustainability and human rights strategy says it is committed to addressing climate change.

Climate researchers and environmental groups have argued that the expanded, three-country tournament was likely to produce the most atmosphere-polluting greenhouse gases of any World Cup emissions and be the most carbon-intensive World Cup ever because of the extensive air travel required for teams, fans and officials.

Associated Press journalist Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Switzerland contributed to this report.