British media reported on Monday that UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin boycotted the 2026 World Cup final on Sunday, expressing his displeasure with FIFA.

The relationship between European football's governing body and the world football federation has become increasingly tense.

Among the reasons is FIFA's unjustified decision to overturn the red card suspension received by American forward Folarin Balogun before the United States' match against Belgium in the World Cup, after U.S. President Donald Trump asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to "review" the expulsion decision.

UEFA expressed displeasure at Infantino's submission to what it considered political pressure from the host nation, describing the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision as "unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustified," deeming it "a crossing of a red line."

Another source of tension is FIFA's acceptance of U.S. authorities' refusal to allow Somali referee Omar Artan to enter the country. UEFA responded by appointing Artan to referee the UEFA Super Cup next month.

FIFA also failed to ensure that Iran was treated in the same manner as other participating teams in the United States. Coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team was "the most wronged" in the World Cup, while U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he "danced with joy" when Iran was eliminated from the tournament.

UEFA has also so far refused to adopt some innovations implemented by FIFA during the World Cup, such as water breaks, the VAR protocol for "mistaken identity" cases, which led to the expulsion of forward Breel Embolo in Switzerland's loss to Argentina in the quarterfinals, as well as cards for players covering their mouths while speaking to opponents.

Slovenian Čeferin also criticized the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams before it began.

He was quoted as saying in an interview with a Slovenian newspaper: "We have many matches that are not interesting at all."

Čeferin also publicly criticized World Cup ticket prices, and UEFA confirmed that it will continue to offer two categories of "fans first" tickets for Euro 2028 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

He explained that 40% of tickets will be priced either under £30 (€35 or $40) or under £60, and pledged not to adopt a dynamic pricing system.

Čeferin did not attend the tournament's opening match in Mexico City on June 11.