The World Cup is exposing the contradictions of national identity
Al Jazeera – News
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Professor in the Media Studies program at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The composition of the team has raised fascinating questions about dual citizenship and loyalty, national identity, the diaspora, and the enduring legacies of colonialism. Moreover, across many North American and European teams, most of the players from immigrant families are racial minorities living in white-majority societies. US President Donald Trump’s political programme has been defined, at least partly, by white grievance politics and an anti-immigration agenda. After suspending the US’s refugee programme on the first day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order prioritising the resettlement of white Afrikaners from South Africa. His administration recently expanded the programme, creating 10,000 additional refugee slots for white South Africans, all while excluding non-white refugees. In 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE (immigration enforcement agency)) arrested about 400,000 immigrants, deporting most of them. ICE recently intensified its efforts, arresting 10,000 immigrants over a five-day period in late June. Six members of the team were born outside the US, and more than half of the players hold dual citizenship. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
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Teams shaped by migration and diaspora are challenging exclusionary ideas of who belongs.
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