With the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup set to kick off in Mexico on Thursday, questions are mounting about whether the tournament’s unprecedented scale will deliver quality football. Several star players raised the alarm about pitch conditions at US venues, with grass quality drawing criticism just days before matches begin. Adding a surreal subplot, the Trump administration warned international influencers that creating monetized content on US soil with a tourist visa is illegal — a pointed message ahead of the global media bonanza the tournament will generate. Costa Rica, absent from this edition, is instead making headlines for leading Latin America in AI adoption, registering a 28.5% adoption rate of generative AI tools among its working-age population.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Anticipation, Quality Concerns, and a Warning to Influencers
