Why Donald Trump is not attending World Cup opening ceremony and USA’s first match

Trump expected to miss the ceremony and the game against Paraguay (Picture: Getty)

President Donald Trump is not expected to attend the US opening ceremony for the World Cup or the United States’ opening match of the tournament on Friday.

Mexico, Canada and the USA will each host their own opening ceremony in the coming days with Shakira and Burna Boy helping raise the curtain tonight ahead of El Tri’s opening game against South Africa at the glorious Azteca Stadium.

Alanis Morissette and Michael Bublé are part of the line-up ahead of Canada’s opening ceremony which will take place on Friday evening ahead of their game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The US show taking place later that night ahead of their opening match against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

Paraguay president Santiago Pena will be making the journey to California, but Trump is not currently expected to be in attendance at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the official U.S. delegation to the match, the State Department announced this week. He will be joined by Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

While the World Cup takes centre stage this weekend, there is another major sporting event taking place right in Trump’s front garden.

UFC Freedom 250 takes place at the White House on Sunday 14 June with the Octagon relocated to the South Lawn to stage championship fights on a historic night of MMA action.

Trump has a long-standing association with the MMA giant, hosting events at his Atlantic City casinos during its early days. He and UFC president Dana White are close friends.

The White House will host UFC action this weekend (Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The event celebrates 250 years of independence for the US with Sunday also marking Trump’s 80th birthday.

The President will have other duties in the lead-up to the UFC event with walkthroughs taking place from Friday which will keep him in the capital, The Athletic report.

Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum will also not be in attendance for her nation’s opening match against South Africa tonight having delivered on a promise to give away her ticket.

‘They are the pride of Mexico. They will not represent the president, or the head of government, they will represent Mexico,’ Sheinbaum said at a news conference after handing her ticket to a fan.’

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