By Oluwakemi Kindness
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, says the United States recorded no major security incidents during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In a post on Sunday on his official X account, Patel describes the tournament as the largest sporting event in history, saying it attracted record attendance and was successfully hosted across the country.
He said the United States secured the equivalent of 78 Super Bowls over 38 days, alongside fan zones, team base camps and celebrations in multiple states, without any major security breach.
Patel credited President Donald Trump with prioritising security preparations through the White House FIFA Task Force, which was established about 16 months before the tournament.
According to him, the FBI deployed nearly 5,000 personnel from its headquarters, field offices and international offices across the 16 host cities, making it the bureau’s largest deployment for a single event.
He said the FBI also established a Joint Operations Centre, an International Police Coordination Centre and an Intelligence Coordination Centre to support real-time intelligence sharing throughout the competition.
Patel disclosed that authorities trained law enforcement officers through the FBI’s first counter-drone school and seized more than 700 drones that entered restricted airspace around World Cup venues.
He added that security agencies also managed other major events held during the same period while ensuring the FIFA World Cup concluded without major security incidents.
