The FIFA 2026 World Cup language issue has already been fixed. At writing, the organization has confirmed to The Sporting News that it will have a Spanish translation available for every press conference moving forward throughout the tournament. But the problem remains: the fact that it wasn’t so to begin with is less about the rules or about accessibility for teams and more about respect, or a lack thereof.
What happened? The root of the problem is this. The 2026 FIFA World Cup got underway on Thursday, June 11. As press conferences started happening, some journalists tried to ask questions in Spanish. This happened on three separate occasions, with Vinicius Jr., from Brazil, Achraf Hakimi, from Morocco, and Frenkie de Jong, from the Netherlands.
All three speak Spanish fluently. All three were prevented from answering the questions in Spanish, because FIFA only offered translation services for three languages per press conference: English, and the languages of each national team at the podium, for a total of three. The problem, of course, is that the World Cup is being hosted not just by the United States and Canada, where English is the most commonly spoken language, but also by Mexico, where Spanish is.
It seems like a logistical issue, one that FIFA has acted swiftly to fix. But the problem remains. If Spanish is one of the official languages used by FIFA and the official language of one of the host countries, why was it not offered as a translation option? Why did not just one or two, but three separate instances of players being asked not to speak Spanish have to happen before FIFA corrected course?
Both Vini Jr. and Hakimi’s press conference clips went viral before FIFA decided to add Spanish. In Vini Jr.’s case, he recognized that the journalist was from a Spanish-language outlet and asked that the question be in Spanish. The journalist then tried to tell him he couldn’t, only for Vini Jr. to reply that he could. But the player was then informed that it wasn’t possible.
Hakimi, meanwhile, made it clear that he understood the question and was willing to answer it. He was still told he couldn’t.
Frenkie de Jong was also clear. He didn’t mind answering the question in Spanish. He just wasn’t allowed to.
Spanish is spoken by 560 million people globally, with Mexico the country with the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, with over 138 million native Spanish speakers. Ironically, the second country on that list is the United States, which boasts over 56 million Spanish speakers. But during the FIFA World Cup, despite the fact that many of the players participating play in leagues around Latin America, in the MLS, or in Spain, Spanish was just not an option.
One could believe that the problem with the Spanish translation has to do with the difficulties of organizing a tournament of the scale of the World Cup and having readily available translators, but that has never been a problem for FIFA. The upcoming World Cup, in 2030, will mark the 100th anniversary of the tournament. And the official languages of the organization are Spanish, English, French, and German. So, it really shouldn’t be an issue.
But all of those things pale in comparison to the most important argument for Spanish as one of the default languages in all press conferences for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Mexico is a host country. That’s it. And that means that Mexico deserves more than just having an Opening Ceremony and a few games played on Mexican soil. It deserves to be treated as a host and respected as such.
The FIFA 2026 World Cup has already racked up its fair share of controversies, from the ticket prices that have left many games half empty to the visa problems that kept the top African referee from being able to participate in the tournament, and many fans with canceled visas. The last thing FIFA needed was a controversy about the languages spoken at the World Cup press conferences, particularly as heartwarming stories like the Argentinian fans who biked over 11 thousand miles to see their national team play, or the Mexican and Korean fans having a dance off at a restaurant, are going viral.
Because those things: the fans from different places sharing cultural touchstones and coming together, the people going out of their way to experience the tournament and rooting for their team, that’s what FIFA has always sold the World Cup as. That’s what it wants the tournament to be remembered for. As it stands, though, the FIFA 2026 World Cup is right now more about the people who didn’t get tickets, the ones who couldn’t make it to the World Cup, and, in this particular case, the ones who couldn’t speak their chosen language, just because the rules didn’t allow it.
There’s still over a month to change the narrative. Let’s see how it goes.
In the Zone with Lissete Lanuza Sáenz is where sports analysis meets cultural insight. I bring a unique perspective to the world of sports, blending passion with informed commentary.
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