Donald Trump once suggested the NFL should rethink its name, arguing that soccer is the sport that truly deserves to be called football in the United States.
The comment came during the FIFA 2026 Draw held in Washington on December 05, 2026.
It immediately stood out given the NFL’s dominance in American sports culture.
Donald Trump questioned football naming during the World Cup draw
The moment came during the 2026 World Cup draw event, where footage shared by Acyn captured Donald Trump speaking alongside global leaders and FIFA officials.
Trump addressed the naming issue directly while discussing the growth of the sport in the United States.
He said, “But when you look at what has happened to football in the United States, soccer in the United States … we seem to never call it [football] because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that’s called football.”
The setting added weight to the comment, with the United States preparing to co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
It also highlighted how terminology differs globally, even as the sport continues to expand in the US.
Donald Trump suggests the NFL should change its name instead of soccer
Trump pushed the idea further by questioning whether American football should keep its name at all.
He added: “But when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called … this is football, there’s no question about it. We have to come up with another name for the NFL.
“It really doesn’t make sense when you think about it.”
The remark was not presented as policy, but it reflected a broader point about how the sport is labelled compared to the rest of the world.
In most countries, football refers to the global game, while the NFL’s version remains specific to the United States.
Trump’s comments brought that contrast into focus, even if the idea itself is unlikely to gain traction within the NFL.
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