Over 400 Agencies Coordinate Security for Record 48-Team World Cup Across 11 U.S. Cities

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force, said this summer's World Cup will pose an unprecedented security challenge due to its size and scope. S. cities, with another 26 matches in Canada and Mexico.

By comparison, the last World Cup in Qatar featured 32 teams across a country smaller than Connecticut. More than 400 law enforcement agencies are working with the federal government and private security firms to secure stadiums, fan festivals, base camps and hotels, officials said. "This entire country's police force is leaning in," Giuliani told ESPN.

The federal government does not have the resources to take over security as it would for a presidential inauguration or the Olympics, Giuliani said. Instead, it is working with local and state law enforcement to coordinate security, including sharing information across cities.

Giuliani said security planners had been "planning with one hand tied behind our back" due to the partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

"We've seen some gaps, but we've been able to plug some of those holes. We are still plugging a few of those holes," he said. " "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that nothing goes wrong," Giuliani said.

Security planners are learning about behaviors unique to different fanbases. "What may look like a riot to a local police officer, that may actually end up being something that's just standard practice for a soccer fan from that country," Giuliani said.

FIFA provides threat assessments and intelligence about potential threats from each team's home country and shares them with local security planners, according to JP Hayslip, director of security for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia police chief inspector John Przepiorka said he will dispatch officers who speak the languages of the teams to fan marches and along major fan corridors. Philadelphia police officers will be equipped with specialized translation technology embedded in body cameras that will allow them to communicate in more than 50 languages, according to the city's police commissioner, Kevin Bethel.