The money, they’ve been told, is coming.
The problem is: no one seems to know when.
More than a week after U.S. officials indicated that hundreds of millions of dollars in federal security funding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup had been approved, several host cities say they are still waiting — not just for the money, but for clarity.
The total package is substantial. Roughly $625 million has been allocated through federal legislation, with an additional $250 million from emergency management programs aimed at supporting security operations, including the use of surveillance technology and drones.
But on the ground, the rollout has been anything but straightforward.
Approval without access
Officials across multiple host cities — including Kansas City, Miami and Dallas — say they have yet to receive funds or a clear timeline for when they will arrive.
In some cases, even local law enforcement agencies tasked with planning World Cup security operations remain in the dark.
A spokesperson for Kansas City’s police department said the department has not received any funding, nor guidance on when to expect it. In South Florida, authorities are similarly waiting, with no confirmed disbursement date.
The disconnect highlights a familiar tension in large-scale event planning: approval at the federal level does not always translate to immediate operational readiness at the local level.
A process still in motion
Part of the delay appears to be procedural.
Officials have pointed to a “brief congressional notification process†that must be completed before funds are formally distributed. Only after that step, they say, will host committees begin to receive allocations.
Even then, there is another complication: much of the funding is expected to be delivered through reimbursement, rather than upfront grants.
That distinction matters.
Cities are being asked to prepare for one of the largest sporting events in the world — with security costs that can escalate quickly — without necessarily having immediate access to the capital required to cover those expenses.
Fragmented responsibility
The structure of the funding adds another layer of complexity.
In some cities, host committees are the primary recipients. In others, funds are routed through state agencies or municipal governments. That fragmentation has made it difficult to determine where responsibility lies — and who, exactly, can provide answers.
In Philadelphia, for example, city officials have deferred questions elsewhere. In Kansas City, inquiries have moved between municipal authorities, police departments and organizing committees without a definitive response.
For an event of this scale, that lack of clarity is notable.
The clock is ticking
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is not a distant project. Planning timelines for security, logistics and infrastructure are already tightening, particularly as cities begin coordinating with federal agencies, private contractors and international governing bodies.
Earlier delays tied to a partial shutdown within the Department of Homeland Security had already slowed grant processing, limiting the capacity of agencies responsible for distributing funds.
While officials now insist that the money has been approved, the lag between approval and access is becoming the more immediate concern.
The bigger picture
This is not just a funding story. It is a coordination story.
The World Cup is often framed as a global spectacle — and it is — but its execution depends on local systems working with precision. Police departments, transportation networks, emergency services: all of them require certainty, not just promises.
Right now, that certainty is still forming.
And until the money actually arrives, host cities are left planning for a billion-dollar event with a key piece of the puzzle still unresolved.