Infantino flies nearly 60,000 miles across World Cup

FIFA President Gianni Infantino crisscrossed North America throughout the 2026 World Cup, travelling nearly 60,000 miles by private jet as he attended matches, meetings and official events across the tournament's unprecedented three-country footprint.
An Associated Press analysis of flight logs, photographs and social media posts found that Infantino travelled 59,281 miles (95,403 km) and spent more than 115 hours in the air during the tournament, excluding a round trip to Qatar to attend the funeral of the country's former emir.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino got some serious air time over the course of the 2026 World Cup, the tournament's most far-flung edition ever.
He crisscrossed North America for matches, meetings and other appearances during the competition, which took place in three countries, 16 cities and four time zones, and ends with Sunday's final in New Jersey.
To track his travels, The Associated Press analyzed flight logs for a private business jet used by Infantino in recent years, along with photos taken by AP photographers and images posted on Instagram by FIFA and the head of world soccer's governing body himself.
The analysis shows that by the time either Argentina or Spain emerges as champion, he will have flown far enough to circle the planet almost 2 1/2 times.
Access to a Gulfstream G650 jet from the fleet of the Qatari government made Infantino's prodigious jet-setting possible. The aircraft is operated by the private charter division of Qatar Airways, a World Cup sponsor.
Since a June 11 (as per BST) flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City ahead of the tournament's opening match, the aircraft averaged more than one flight a day and on multiple days made more than three, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
Along with attending matches, Infantino's itinerary included stops in New York for an interview on Fox & Friends and in Miami for a FIFA summit attended by representatives from the organization's 211 member associations. He also flew to Doha to attend the funeral of Qatar's former emir before returning to the US in time for the World Cup semifinals.
FIFA did not respond to an emailed request for comment about Infantino's travel schedule and arrangements.
Here's a look at some of the numbers racked up by the person overseeing the tournament that will have featured a record 104 matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the largest geographic footprint in World Cup history. Before Monday's final (as per BST), Infantino had attended 43 World Cup matches. The Gulfstream was scheduled to fly from New Jersey to Miami for the third-place playoff between England and France, but the flight never departed because thunderstorms caused disruptions at New York-area airports.
He watched at least one match at all 16 World Cup venues. Miami's Hard Rock Stadium was his most-visited venue, hosting five of the matches he attended.
On 13 different days, Infantino attended two matches in a single day, often travelling hundreds of miles between stadiums.
The Gulfstream used 21 airports during the tournament, mostly major international hubs but also smaller executive airports, including Atlanta's Fulton County Executive Airport and Miami's Opa Locka Executive Airport.
Through the semifinals, the aircraft crossed international borders within North America 23 times.
Excluding repositioning flights and the 29-hour trip to Qatar for the funeral, the jet logged 115 flight hours-nearly five full days in the air, enough time for a commercial aircraft to fly between New York and Los Angeles about 20 times.
The longest flight, excluding the Qatar trip, lasted five hours and 44 minutes. It flew from Miami to Seattle on June 15, where Infantino attended the Belgium-Egypt match.
The shortest flight lasted just 28 minutes, taking him from Seattle to Vancouver on July 6 after watching the United States-Belgium match before travelling to Switzerland-Colombia the following day.
According to the AP analysis, the jet travelled 59,281 miles (95,403 kilometres), excluding the journey to Qatar and back. That is farther than the combined round-trip distances between New York and Singapore, Los Angeles and Doha, and London and Perth.
Infantino covered his greatest distance in a single day on June 26, flying 5,772 miles (9,289 kilometres). His itinerary took him from Miami to Dallas, then to Seattle for the Egypt-Iran match, before returning overnight to Miami for Colombia-Portugal.
FIFA has pledged to cut World Cup-related carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.