United States (US) President Donald Trump on Friday waded into one of sport’s longest-running linguistic disputes, declaring that American football should be renamed because the global game played with a round ball is the “one true football.”
Speaking at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, Trump told the audience that the US faced “a little bit of a conflict” over what it calls football, suggesting the National Football League may need a new title.
“When you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called football? There is no question.
“We have to come up with another name for the NFL. It really doesn’t make sense when you think about it,” he said.
In the US, the term “football” refers to the gridiron sport dominated by the NFL and played largely with the hands, a stark contrast to what the rest of the world recognises as football.
The Super Bowl, the NFL’s annual championship game, remains the country’s most-watched sporting event, drawing tens of millions of viewers each year.
On Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino used that benchmark to stress the scale of next summer’s tournament, saying the 2026 World Cup would be the equivalent of “104 Super Bowls.”
Trump, a long-time sports enthusiast, has shown growing enthusiasm for football, or soccer, as it is commonly called in the US, as the country prepares to co-host the expanded 48-team tournament alongside Mexico and Canada.
His comments on Friday added to the rising sense of anticipation in the host nations, with organisers already preparing for what is expected to be the largest World Cup in history.
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