The 2026 FIFA World Cup Is Exposing the Unequal Realities Behind Globalization

Football is often described as the world’s most universal language, yet the 2026 World Cup in the United States is revealing how unevenly that universality is experienced. The reported exclusion of Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan despite his FIFA appointment has sparked wider debate, not simply about one official’s absence, but about the deeper reality that global participation is still governed by borders, passports and power.