"I don't even know if you should play at all." That was Rainer Bonhof, to loud applause, at a Cologne event on Monday night. Former Germany coach Joachim Löw wasn't far behind him.
Both men were speaking at a gathering celebrating previous World Cups when the conversation turned, inevitably, to the one coming up in 2026. What followed wasn't optimism.
Löw drew a direct line from Qatar to something he sees as categorically worse. "We had debates before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and calls for a boycott before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar," he told the Cologne Express. "But playing in a country that is actively at war is even more dangerous. The political situation completely overshadows the tournament."
Three hosts, three different problems
The US-Israel war with Iran is ongoing. In Mexico, the army's killing of cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes — "El Mencho" — last month triggered a fresh wave of violence across the country. Bonhof, now president of Borussia Mönchengladbach, said he "wouldn't have any urge to go" to Mexico given what's happening there.
Of the three co-hosts, he reserved his only measured words for Canada. "Given the current circumstances, for me only Canada is a neutral country." That's a damning verdict on the other two-thirds of the tournament's geography.
Bonhof was careful to stop short of calling for a boycott outright — "we're too fond of football" — but his real concern was more operational than political. "We really need to think about security measures, which we haven't considered yet." That's the part that should worry FIFA and the national federations most. Not the rhetoric, but the gaps in planning it implies.
Germany's position has already shifted once
The German soccer federation ruled out a boycott in January, largely in response to political pressure around Donald Trump's presidency. That decision was made before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. The federation hasn't publicly revisited its stance since — but the ground underneath it has clearly moved.
Löw led Germany to the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil. When a man with that track record says he's not sure the tournament should happen, it's not a fringe opinion. It's a signal that the questions surrounding 2026 are no longer just geopolitical noise.
"The political situation completely overshadows the tournament." Whether FIFA agrees or not, that's already true.
