England fans ‘must show social media history’ to attend World Cup in US

The tournament takes place next summer

This latest move aimed at discouraging people entering the North American nation comes amidst a complete "immigration freeze" on 19 countries, also announced by the Trump administration this week.

Even though countries like the UK and Germany are on a VISA waiver programme, they will still be required to provide social media data as part of their application process, according to the report.

18+ Be Gamble Aware

While the change in regulations is significant enough on its own, it comes just months before the start of the 2026 North American World Cup, where the USA is set to host the lion's share of matches.

As with all previous editions, hundreds of thousands of supporters are expected to pour into the host nation next summer, all of whom it is expected will now be subject to the new social media checks.

The World Cup kicks-off on the 11th of June 2026, and will run until the 19th of July.

Home nations England and Scotland have already qualified for the tournament and last week FIFA announced where in North America their first fixtures would take place.

The Three Lions begin their tournament vs Croatia in Dallas, Texas at 9pm (GMT) on June 17th, they will then travel to Boston to face Ghana at 9pm on June 23rd, before their final match against Panama in New Jersey at 10pm on 27th June. 

Steve Clark's Scotland begin against Haiti in Boston on June 13 at 2am , before they play Morocco at 11pm on June 19th (also in Boston), before their clash with Brazil. The Brazil game takes place on June 19th in Miami at 11pm on June 24th.